Windies look for consistency after a win and a loss at 2019 World Cup

BY KAYLA KARIM

The Cricket World Cup is underway in England and Wales for West Indies who played their first match against Pakistan on Friday, May 31^st.

Windies 108 for 3 won by 7 wickets and held Pakistan to 105 runs in the low scoring ODI match.

Fast bowling was the key to the Windies victory in their opening match for the 2019 World Cup. Oshane Thomas, who is the youngest member of their squad, led the way routing Pakistan for their second lowest total ever in World Cup history.

Though Thomas was the main wicket-taker, it was an entire team effort. Andre Russell came in after the opening bowlers and had put his team in command but that was only the beginning. As he concluded his run, Russell finished with an 18-ball burst. His bowling was concise and consistent forcing Pakistan out at a rapid speed. One thing specifically that many noticed about Russell’s bowling was that 15 of the 18 balls he bowled were short of a length. Despite their horrible loss, Pakistan had the tournament favorite, England chasing 359 for a win just a couple of weeks prior to the beginning of the World Cup.

The Men in Maroon picked up their win with 36.2 overs to spare, the highest number of balls remaining in a World Cup match.

Less than a week later, Jason Holder and the Windies team played their second game of the tournament against Australia who beat them by 15 runs.

Australia lost four early wickets batting first however came back to clinch their 10^th consecutive ODI victory. Led by Steven Smith and Nathan Coulter-Nile, the team did not miss a chance on the field and finished on 288.

West Indies, on the other hand, could not break Coulter-Nile with the bat despite Oshane Thomas, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Russell and Shai Hope all having their own moments in the game. Coulter-Nile played mainly short balls earlier in the match eventually surpassing his previous best, 34, for Australia and made it as far as 92.

Russell was exhilarating every time he was on the pitch but ended up limping off after being seen nursing his knee.

The Windies pacers showed sparks but it wasn’t consistent enough to secure their second victory. “We don’t want to send messages, we want to win games,” said a vehement Carlos Brathwaite. “We scored 421 against New Zealand, everyone said we sent a message. We shot Pakistan out for 105, everyone said we sent a message.

“And today we lost. The dressing room is gutted. We thought we had Australia on the ropes. Regardless of whether the message is sent or not, we want to win.”

Windies hope to bounce back from the loss on Monday, June 10^th when they take on South Africa who lost three matches since the tournament began.