The 46th match of the ongoing T20 World Cup will be played between West Indies and the United States of America as the co-hosts will clash in an all-important game on 22nd June at Bridgetown.
Team overview:
West Indies fared well in the Group stage winning all the games but faced the cold and unforgiving reality of Super Eights at the hands of England.
West Indies’ hope for their third title took a major blow when Jos Buttler’s men vanquished the side by 8 wickets.
The skipper Rovman Powell who was short of runs in the Group stage played a fiery knock against England although it wasn’t enough to take his side home.
He scored 36 off just 17 with the help of five sixes and striking at 211. Sherfane Rutherford also scored 28 0ff 15 clobbering one boundary and two sixes at a strike rate of 186.
Nicholas Pooran and Johnson Charles played an average knock considering the bar they have set for themselves.
But besides the knocks of Pooran and Charles, there is another thing West Indies have to access. It is the replacement of the opener Brandon King who suffered a side strain and was retired hurt against England. Though he didn’t fire in the Group stage, he was looking great against the defending champions having scored 23 runs at a strike rate of 176.
The Maroon shirts will have to bowl disciplined line and length against the USA as their batters showed a great fight against the South African bowlers.
Against England only Roston Chase bowled decently as he picked up one wicket and gave away 19 runs in three overs.
USA had a dreamy start to the T20 World Cup but they are yet to win a game after the super over victory against Pakistan. While they did not reach the winning line, they showed brilliant fight and grit against the likes of South Africa in their first game of the Super Eight.
If only the bowlers had bowled immaculate line and length, USA might have won the game. Andries Gous was the pick of the batters for his side as he scored 80 off 47 balls.
With West Indies and USA losing their first games in the Super Eight, both of the sides will give it all to stay alive in the tournament.
West Indies will be hoping Andre Russell to get into the groove and USA will be looking forward to Aaron Jones’ firepower against the low confidence West Indies bowlers.
Pitch and weather report:
The Bridgetown pitch is relatively a batting friendly pitch as compared to the other venues in the World Cup. Although a low scoring thriller was played on this pitch between Namibia and Oman. There are low chances of rain. It will be a humid evening.
Head-to-head record:
The upcoming clash will be the first ever match between the two teams.
Predictions:
Although USA has shown a great fight against South Africa, but West Indies are hot favourites to win this clash.
Where to watch:
Pakistan – PTV Sports, Ten Sports, Myco (Live streaming), Tamasha app (Live streaming), Tapmad (live streaming)
India – Star Sports
England – SkySport Network
USA and Canada (Willow TV)
Caribbean – ESPN Caribbean
New Zealand & Australia – Sky Sports NZ, Prime Video
UK & Northern Ireland – Sky Sports
Sri Lanka – Maharaja TV
Other regions – SuperSport, Sirasa, CricLife, STARZPLAY
