Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott pinpoints reason for loss against West Indies
Jun 18, 2024
Gros Islet [St Lucia], June 18 : After his side's 104-run loss against West Indies in the T20 World Cup 2024 match at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said that they could have bowled a little bit better.
West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran was named the Player of the Match after he played a stupendous performance in the first inning. He scored 98 runs from 53 balls at a strike rate of 184.91. The left-handed batter smashed 6 fours and 8 sixes during his time on the crease.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Trott showered praise on Pooran and said that he played a good innings. The head coach added that their power play in the first inning was not ideal.
"Puran played a very good innings. Maybe, I think, we could have bowled a little bit better at times, obviously, the power play wasn't ideal - but I think we bowled well after that the next turnovers went for something like 60 odd so it showed that if we did bowl well, we could restrict them and yeah so there are some things that we did well but there's some things that obviously we didn't," Trott said.
He pointed out that the Caribbeans used the wind really well during the final group stage of the marquee event. Trott hoped that they would get things for their upcoming match.
"I think we saw the West Indies players use the wind factor really well. I mean, the wind was to the bigger, much bigger boundary and we're still able to clear it well. I think maybe we could have bowled a little bit better and get them hitting into, hitting the other way. When we know, they were trying to target the hitting with the wind. And that's going to be key also going into Barbados with the wind there and that's something we're certainly going to look at and hopefully get right," he added.
Recapping the match, after winning the toss Afghanistan sent West Indies to bat first. Nicholas Pooran (98 runs from 53 balls, 6 fours and 8 sixes) and Johnson Charles (43 runs from 27 balls, 8 fours) helped the Caribbeans to post 218/5 on the scoreboard in the first inning. Shai Hope (25 runs from 17 balls, 2 sixes) and Rovman Powell (26 runs from 15 balls, 1 four and 2 sixes) also played a supporting role in the first inning.
Gulbadin Naib led the Afghan bowling attack after he bagged two wickets and gave 14 runs in his two-over spell.
During the run chase, Ibrahim Zadran (38 runs from 28 balls, 5 fours and 1 six) and Azmatullah Omarzai (23 runs from 19 balls, 1 four and 1 six) were the only standout batters for Afghanistan as they scored the highest runs among their teammates. However, it was not enough to help Afghanistan chase the given ru rate.
Obed McCoy led the Caribbean bowling attack after he bagged three wickets and gave 14 runs in his three-over spell. Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie also picked up two wickets in their respective spells and helped West Indies clinch a 104-run win over Afghanistan.
