ICC World Cup 2019: Match 2, WI vs PAK – Who Said What

Sarfaraz was disappointed with poor performance and felt they should've done better.

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Windies team
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Windies team. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

The vintage Windies have announced their arrival at the World Cup 2019. Pakistan were their first challenge and the Men in Maroon just blew them away in style. There were a lot of bouncers bowled by their pace bowlers and the opposition literally had no answers. After bundling out Pakistan for just 105 runs, the Windies gunned down the total in just 13.4 overs to start the mega event on a high.

After opting to field first, Sheldon Cottrell unfurled his salute celebrations by sending back the in-form Imam-ul-Haq. Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam then stitched a brief stand for a while only for Pakistan to collapse later. When the former got out, they were 35/2 with Haris Sohail joining Babar and there were hopes of them rebuilding the innings.

But the barrage of bouncers continued and each passing batsman kept edging the ball uncomfortably as if they had never played such deliveries before. Some poor decisions were made on the field and they succumbed under pressure for just 105 runs in the 22nd over. While Thomas was the star with the figures of 4/27, Holder also picked three wickets with Andre Russell also picking a couple before getting injured.

Windies’ comfortable chase

Windies were never going to be troubled. They had the right man to gun down the small chase and Chris Gayle didn’t disappoint. He smacked the bowlers left, right and centre to slam a 33-ball half-century and soon got out post reaching the milestone. The southpaw was struggling with his back but still kept on batting to make sure, his team got over the line in a hurry.

Mohammad Amir picked three wickets to get back into the groove but the Caribbeans were never bothered. Shimron Hetmyer and Nicolas Pooran then stitched an unbeaten stand of 31 runs to confirm the victory of the team. Pakistan have a lot of thinking to do ahead of their second game against England at the same venue and they will hope to put up a better show.

Man of the Match, Oshane Thomas said:

Definitely, great start for me as a youngster, I’m honoured to have got this trophy from Sir Viv Richards. I had a good sleep yesterday (wasn’t nervous thinking about the first World Cup game). Andre Russell led the way with the ball, he was very aggressive and basically set it up for us with the aggressive bouncer.

We executed our plans well. Anywhere I get to bowl I’m happy to run in and bowl… want to keep winning games for West Indies. I just want to keep working hard and do my things.

Windies captain, Jason Holder said:

Got off to a really good start. Got wickets with the new ball which is what we ask of the guys. Russell’s an impact player. Really good to see the impact he had today, followed by Oshane. Sheldon started really well for us. Credit to the boys who stuck to the task.

Russell can get the ball through, bowled some sharp balls today. He’s one who gives 100% everytime even though he might not be 100%.

Good to have a young quick. We know Oshane can be expensive, but he’s a genuine wicket-taker and that’s a gamble we’re willing to take. With such high totals these days, you need to get wickets. We see him as an impact player.

Chris started us off tremendously. He eases the pressure in a chase like this. He imposed himself and kept them at bay. Wanted to start with a win. Been a long build-up to the tournament. Been anxiously waiting for this first game. Good to get it out of the way.

Don’t want to get too far ahead. As I said in the press conference, I have no expectations, just to come out and enjoy our cricket, play fearless cricket, and make the people back home proud.

Pakistan captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed said:

If you lose the toss in these conditions, and lose wickets, it’s hard to come back into the game. Have to play positive cricket here. Didn’t do well as a batting unit today. We know they’re going to come hard with their pace bowlers. We didn’t play well against the short ball. Today was a bad day. Confident my team will bounce back. Good to see Amir bowling well. Always good support here in England.

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