So both the co-hosts of the prestigious ICC Men's T20 World Cup are off with a win. United States of America last night and now West Indies with a tense win against PNG. That will be it from match number 2 as our coverage ends here. Ninaad Dixit here signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Akshay Bhide and scorer/analyst Raju Khariya. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world.
Rovman Powell (West Indies Captain): "PNG's plans were simple and they played some really good cricket. It is important to get two points in this tournament.
Since I turned the captain, 70% or 80% of the team has played together so it was not a big issue.
Roston Chase bowled pretty well and to come out under pressure in the end and the way he played was what we needed.
We are 60-70% there. We can be better in all the 3 departments. Hopefully we can correct that for the 2nd game."
Assad Vala (Papua New Guinea Captain):"It was a competitive score. But we missed a trick in the end. If we would have got 10-15 runs more, it would have been nice. We lost wickets in the end.
We are really happy with the fight we showed. We got wickets in key moments.
It's an opportunity and a challenge we look forward to playing against the best players. We want to play good game and it's good to see the boys bring out the energy on the field. We will look to carry it forward in the next game.
Phil Simmons has been really helpful with the conditions and the pitches. He is really calm and really helpful."
Roston Chase (Player of the Match): "Yeah, I'm very pleased. To start the tournament with a win is always good.
Well, I always knew that it was hard for the batter coming in to start. I gave myself some time and backed myself. I watched the PNG batters. They got going once they spend some time in the middle. So, I backed my skills.
We have been putting in a lot of hard work. We have had a camp in Antigua and we have been working hard.
PNG are not a less team. We won't be taking any team lightly. They are here means they are a quality team. We had a chat at the halfway stage to rally around and bring out the best game."
Player of the Match: Roston Chase
11:25 PM IST, 1:55 PM Local Time: West Indies survive a scare against Papua New Guinea in their opening encounter of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup here at Providence in Guyana.
Skipper Rovman Powell won the toss, elected to bowl first with the bowlers putting a spectacular display to restrict PNG for 136/8. Andre Russell and Alzarri Joseph picking up a couple of wickets each and spinners Akeal Hosein and Roston Chase bowling a tidy and ecnomic spell.
The chase didn't begin as the hosts expected with Johnson Charles falling for a golden duck in the 2nd over itself. Rain halted the game for around 15 minutes or so. Brandon King (34 off 29) and Nicholas Pooran (27 in 27) added 53 runs for the 2nd wicket to stabilize the innings.
John Kariko removed NickyP in the ninth over and finished with 1/17 in his 4 overs. Assad Vala bowled a wicket maiden which saw King depart. Skipper Rovman Powell followed suit after scoring 15 in 14 balls.
Vala struck at a crucial juncture again removing Sherfane Rutherford pushing PNG's hopes to the helm. It was allrounder Chase with his unbeaten 42 in 27 balls and Andre Russell with an unbeaten 15 in 9 balls guiding West Indies to a win in the penultimate over.
Vala (2/28) was the pick of the bowlers with Kariko (1/17), Alei Nao (1/9), Chad Soper (1/19) and Charles Amini (0/14) fighting it out for PNG. A better score with the bat could have helped the team's cause. The spirited performance from the bowling attack proves the fact.
Stay tuned as we head back with the post match festivities.