On Wednesday, June 19, England defeated the co-hosts West Indies in a relatively one-sided contest by eight wickets with 15 balls remaining in their Super 8 Group 2 match in the T20 World Cup 2024. With this big loss, West Indies have found themselves in a tough spot in regards to securing a place in the semifinals of the tournament.
It is at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, where the England captain, Jos Buttler, won the toss and decided to bowl first. Brandon King started the innings with a flyer, but shortly after, his stay at the crease was cut short due to a suspected groin injury, retiring hurt in the process.
Johnson Charles and Nicholas Pooran scored 30s, but they consumed a lot of deliveries, putting pressure on the rest of the batting order to up the ante. The captain Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford provided a late flourish to the West Indies innings, which ended at 180/4 in their allotted overs.
In the run chase, the captain Jos Buttler, and Moeen Ali got quick-fire cameos for England in the first half of the innings, but it was the Phil Salt show all around. The right-handed batter scored 87 off 47 with seven fours and five maximums, stitching together an unbeaten match-winning stand of 97 runs for the third wicket.
The defeat at the hands of England has put the West Indies at the bottom of the standings in Super 8 Group 2 in the T20 World Cup 2024 with an NRR of (-1.343). They are also behind the USA, who have an NRR of (-0.900), following their loss by 18 runs against South Africa.
That’s why, West Indies will have no choice except to win their next two Super Group 2 matches against the USA and South Africa, to give themselves any chance of reaching the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2024. They will also need the other results to go their way, to improve their NRR further, which will boost their hopes of making the top 4 in the tournament.