In the final Group C game in Kolkata, Italy began well against the two-time champions West Indies. They won the toss and elected to bowl first and have gotten a couple of early wickets in the powerplay in the form of Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer. But West Indies should not worry much as they have their hope in Shai Hope in the middle and he is fighting it out for the West Indies out there in the middle.
Italy strikes twice to keep West Indies under check.Â
Put into bat first, Brandon King and Shai Hope opened the batting for West Indies while JJ Smuts had ball in hand for Italy. Smuts bowled a decent first over. Ali Hasan had ball in hand from the other end. He got rid of Brandon King for 4 off 6 balls with great usage of DRS. Hasan bowled from over the wicket, a good length delivery around the fourth stump that pitched and swung back in. King looked to drive on the up and got the inside edge and the ball went to the keeper. Umpire said no and had to reverse the call on DRS.
Shimron Hetmyer came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. Thomas Draca came onto bowl next as Hope leaned forward and creamed it through covers for a boundary. Hope then thumped the bowler with a drive on top of extra cover for a boundary. Hasan continued as Hope caressed the ball through the covers for a boundary. Hope was in the zone as he pressed forward and drove through extra cover and then helped it on its way over long leg for the maximum.
Draca struck as he got rid of Hetmyer for 1 off 4 balls. Draca bowled a good length delivery around the fifth stump line swinging across the batter. Hetmyer looked to drive away from the body and there was no footwork whatsoever and lost his shape as he got a thick outside edge which flew to the right of Smuts at short third who took the catch with both hands. Roston Chase came out to bat next and got off the mark as well.
Hope then hammered the ball past point region for a boundary. Hope flicked it past midwicket for a boundary. Hope managed to get a triple by flicking the ball towards the midwicket region. Grant Stewart came into the attack for the final over of powerplay. He bowled a good first over as West Indies were 48/2 in 6 overs of powerplay with Hope unbeaten on 39 off 22 balls while Chase was unbeaten on 3 off 4 balls. We also paused for the Drinks Break as well.
Shai Hope’s unbeaten half century leads West Indies fightback at the halfway stage of the innings.Â
Ben Manenti came into the attack after the break as Hope pressed forward and muscled it over deep extra cover for the maximum. The 50 came up for West Indies in 6.2 overs. JJ Smuts came back for another spell. Hope reached his fifty in 28 balls. Crishan Kalugamage came into the attack next. He too bowled a good solid over. Smuts continued as Chase finally broke the shackles as he made room to loft the ball over extra covers for a boundary.
At the completion of 10 overs at the halfway stage of the game, West Indies were steadily placed at 76/2 with Hope unbeaten on 55 off 34 balls and Chase unbeaten on 15 off 16 balls.
What Lies Ahead.Â
It’s been a steady progress from the West Indies as they have reached 76/2 in 10 overs and have the platform and batting depth to go berserk at the end overs. Italy have done their bit to pick up wickets and keep the strong West Indies team under check. The Italians have done well and will be contend with the position of the match so far. But there is a long way to go in the match.
The match is evenly poised as we enter the back half of the innings. Let’s see how things pan out from here.
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