West Indies vs United States of America: Match 2 Preview- ICC WorldCup Qualifiers

Author: Aashray
18 Jun 2023 06:47:19
single

*ICC WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS: WI VS USA-PREVIEW*

*THE BUILD UP:*

It’s a petty state if you’re a Windies fan with your team expected to compete for a spot in the Worldcup, let alone play a Worldcup on its own merit. Shai Hope and his men haven’t had it easy. With a number of captains forced to resign or resigned themselves, change in the coaching setup and in the way they go on with their cricket - uncertainty has certainly revolved around Caribbean cricket and now they find themselves locking horns with USA in their opening encounter, a side that was unknown to the cricketing fraternity for so long. Carl Hooper in his recent press release stated this matter and expressed his opinions with utmost brutality- as a viewer of the dominance of the Windies, I along with so many others would agree with him. For their board to be able to extract the most out of its bunch of players, these qualifiers need to be approached with a fierce attitude, ready to ounce on everything till they seal the birth with comfort. 

USA, on the other hand come with a fresh piece of mind and renewed excitement. It’s going to be their first time brushing their shoulders against some of the best associate nations and the West Indies. They would look  to start on a positive note, give a fight to probably the strongest team in these Qualifiers and if all goes all, may as well upset them? 

*WI PROBABLE XI:*

Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Shai Hope(c), Shamarh Brooks, Nicholas Pooran(wk), Rovman Powell, Jason Holdar, Keemo Paul, Akeal Hossain, Alzarri Joseph, Yannic Cariah 

Powell comes in with a massive reputation of sending balls out of the park and we saw what he boasts of in the warmup game vs Nepal as he ended up wracking up a big score of 105 off just 55 deliveries for himself, striking at over 190. USA would be keen on not allowing him to be the wrecker in chief in the middle because once he gets his eye in, he proves to be unstoppable with all those heavy blows. 

The technically solid Shai Hope, who is a beast in this format loves feasting on bowlers, rotating the strike, playing classy shots along the ground and making the bowlers pay. Him batting at 3 for Windies is a boon and despite him not batting in the warmup, he could be the most important player of their lineup who has the ability to drop anchor as well as adorn the role of an attacker. 

Zimbabwe has a history of giving pace friendly fast tracks and I can’t wait to see what Alzarri has to offer if similar tracks are laid out. He is a real asset on bouncy pitches and with his height, he makes life challenging for the batters at the crease. USA are coming on the back of a beating from Srilanka so they know what it feels like to get bundled out for under 200. If USA are to play for pride, the Joseph threat will have to be taken care of carefully. 

*USA PROBABLE XI:*

Steven Taylor, Sushant Modani, Monank Patel(c)(wk), Aaron Jones, Saiteja Mukkamwala, Gajanand Singh, Shayan Jahangir, Nisarg Patel, Saurabh Netravalkar, Jessy Singh, Usman Rafiq

Usman Rafiq delivered a good performance giving away 57 and picking up the key wicket of Dhananjaya De Silva while the other bowlers were taken to the cleaners as SL registered 392 in their final warmup game. After that sort of a performance where he was shining light, he is expected to feature in the XI. 

Saurabh Netravalkar is another gem who picked up 3 wickets in the two warmups that USA have played in, getting two scalps vs SL, setting the tone upfront as he was instrumental in sending Nissanka back to the dugout. Windies should be vary of what he can do through the course of the game. 

Monank Patel, the skipper as well as the gloveman behind the stumps, of this outfit led from the front in both the games with the bat setting an example for the rest of the side to follow. He began his quest to play the Worldcup with two dominant half centuries, one resulting in an one sided loss whereas the other resulting in a slightly competitive loss. He could adorn the role of a captain nicely as he controls his unit from behind the stumps and WI need to restrict him to as low a score possible due to what danger he holds from the batting perspective. 

Shayan Jahangir showed guts and tried his level best to get close to glory with a valiant 63 off 51 while chasing 393 vs Srilanka in the final warmup before the much anticipated Qualifiers. He came in at 7,swung and played some sensible cricket as well to ignite some hopes lower down the order. Come 12:30pm, he’d look to execute something similar. 

Both the teams are likely to go with a pace heavy attack because of the conditions on offer. And given the superiority of the WI pace attack and their seniority as a cricket side, this may as well turn out to be a proper bashing. 

*MY PREDICTIONS FOR THE GAME:*

*FOR WI:*
Highest run getter- Shai Hope/Kyle Mayers 

Highest wicket taker- Alzarri Joseph/Yannic Cariah 

*FOR USA:*
Highest run getter- Monank Patel/Aaron Jones 

Highest wicket taker- Saurabh Netravalkar 

*FOR THE GAME:*
West Indies to register a commanding victory to begin their race for a spot in the World Cup. As a cricket fan, I would want to see some counter punches from the United States.

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 20:24:25 GMT
Pakistan will kick off the tournament against New Zealand in Karachi on February 19
Sun, 22 Dec 2024 15:01:58 GMT
The hosts dominated from start to finish despite not batting to full potential, winning by 211 runs
Sun, 22 Dec 2024 08:32:56 GMT
Rohit was struck on the knee while attempting to play a pull shot and had to be attended by the physio
Sat, 21 Dec 2024 14:05:01 GMT
It was the second-biggest successful chase in Vijay Hazare Trophy history
Sat, 21 Dec 2024 11:18:22 GMT
Only Jake Fraser-McGurk and AB de Villiers have scored faster List A centuries
Sat, 21 Dec 2024 03:48:31 GMT
Pakistan will not travel to India for the remaining ICC tournaments in the ongoing events cycle
Thu, 19 Dec 2024 17:23:18 GMT
India posted 217 for 3, their highest-ever T20I total, in their first bilateral T20I series win at home since 2019
Thu, 19 Dec 2024 09:59:29 GMT
"I don't think Ashwin the cricketer is done, I think only Ashwin the Indian cricketer called time."
Wed, 18 Dec 2024 11:24:24 GMT
Ashwin played only one of the first three Tests of the ongoing series in Australia, taking 1 for 53 in the day-night fixture in Adelaide
Wed, 18 Dec 2024 11:14:55 GMT
India captain takes heart from India having put the pressure back on Australia late in the Gabba Test, despite having fallen behind earlier
Wed, 18 Dec 2024 08:13:18 GMT
India captain says "it's high time somebody from NCA talks about him, where he is rehabbing"
Wed, 18 Dec 2024 06:33:17 GMT
Australia and India conjured up the most intriguing of what-ifs in the 22 overs that were possible on the fifth day
Tue, 17 Dec 2024 23:09:10 GMT
India's last wicket pair put on 39 to help them take the innings into the final day at the Gabba
Tue, 17 Dec 2024 17:24:12 GMT
Captain Matthews leads chase with an unbeaten 47-ball 85 after Dottin's excellence with the ball and on the field restricts India
Tue, 17 Dec 2024 13:00:40 GMT
The batter posted his List A stats on social media, expressing surprise at his omission
Tue, 17 Dec 2024 09:35:38 GMT
A total of 98 overs can be bowled on the final day, but only 192 have been bowled across the first four days of this Test
Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:37:39 GMT
He "will be exploring new opportunities" in the world of cricket and the "business side of it"
Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:59:34 GMT
India need 195 more runs to avoid the follow-on with six wickets in hand
Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:51 GMT
He says Siraj has a "little bit of a niggle" and praises his "fighter spirit that the team loves"
Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:04:00 GMT
The Mumbai captain says Shaw needs to "figure out himself" how to get things back on track
Sun, 15 Dec 2024 18:51:52 GMT
MP captain Patidar's unbeaten 40-ball 81 wasn't enough as Mumbai chased down 175 with 13 balls to spare
Sun, 15 Dec 2024 18:42:09 GMT
Dottin led the fight for West Indies with a rapid fifty, but her team still fell 49 runs short
Sun, 15 Dec 2024 10:07:36 GMT
The lack of depth in India's attack showed as the day went on as Head and Smith added 241 in 302 balls
Sun, 15 Dec 2024 05:52:17 GMT
Harmanpreet admits that the short turnaround between the ODIs in Australia and the T20Is at home against West Indies is "very difficult" to deal with
Sat, 14 Dec 2024 10:37:13 GMT
Asked to bat first at the toss, Australia's openers ensured they did not lose a wicket against the new ball in brief spell of play
Sat, 14 Dec 2024 04:23:06 GMT
Bhatia, Patil and Punia remain unavailable for India's white-ball series against WI due to injuries
Fri, 13 Dec 2024 10:05:03 GMT
The India batter has looked good in his two innings this series but will want a few more runs to show for it
Fri, 13 Dec 2024 09:42:03 GMT
The last time India played at this venue, they pulled off one of the greatest wins in Test cricket
Wed, 11 Dec 2024 15:17:48 GMT
She made a welcome return to form as the hosts clean-swept India building towards a defence of their 50-over title
Wed, 11 Dec 2024 13:15:01 GMT
Mandhana scored 105 off 109 balls in the 299-chase, but India collapsed after her dismissal
Wed, 11 Dec 2024 12:55:27 GMT
Gaud and Harpreet also contributed to the 174 chase as MP entered their first SMAT semis since 2010-11
Wed, 11 Dec 2024 09:39:56 GMT
Travis Head and Temba Bavuma among batters and Pat Cummins and Matt Henry among bowlers to have moved up this week
Tue, 10 Dec 2024 13:21:13 GMT
After the surgery in London, Sai Sudharsan put out an Instagram post saying "will be back stronger in no time"
Sat, 14 Dec 2024 06:19:11 GMT
Australia, India and Sri Lanka are also still in the race, with 10 Tests left in this cycle
Tue, 10 Dec 2024 05:55:11 GMT
Bhuvneshwar and Rinku, meanwhile, teamed up with Vipraj Nigam to help UP blaze past Andhra into the final eight
Mon, 09 Dec 2024 13:02:29 GMT
In addition, one demerit point was also added to Siraj and Head's disciplinary records
Mon, 09 Dec 2024 08:01:41 GMT
The secretary's position had been left vacant after Jay Shah took over as the ICC chair from this month
Sun, 08 Dec 2024 13:32:15 GMT
He also defends picking Harshit Rana for the Adelaide game: "Rana didn't do anything wrong in the first Test"
Sun, 08 Dec 2024 13:30:42 GMT
The duo helped Bangladesh defend 198 as India went down by 59 runs in Dubai
Sun, 08 Dec 2024 10:28:01 GMT
The India fast bowler has not played for India since November last year
Sun, 08 Dec 2024 09:35:46 GMT
India could add only 47 to their overnight score as Australia finished things off in under four overs with the bat
Sun, 08 Dec 2024 08:12:14 GMT
India fast bowler contradicts Australian batters comments from press conference
Thu, 12 Dec 2024 09:04:00 GMT
Voll continued her stunning rise in the international arena while Perry produced a vintage knock
Sun, 08 Dec 2024 07:35:46 GMT
The five teams have 19 slots to fill, and have 120 players to choose from on December 15 in Bengaluru
Sat, 07 Dec 2024 17:42:31 GMT
Head's innings of 140 was scored at a strike-rate of 99.29 and flattened India by the time they came out to bat in the final session
Sat, 07 Dec 2024 13:49:41 GMT
The Australia batter said there had been 'no confrontation' in the lead-up to the moment
Sat, 07 Dec 2024 03:43:42 GMT
Starc's career-best figures of 6 for 48 saw India fold for 180 before the batters kept Bumrah and Co at bay
Fri, 06 Dec 2024 07:50:22 GMT
Bengal, Chandigarh, Andhra, UP, Baroda, Delhi, MP, Saurashtra, Mumbai and Vidarbha made it to the knockouts
Fri, 06 Dec 2024 09:27:22 GMT
ESPNcricinfo understands the proposal emerged on Thursday after meetings between the new ICC chair Jay Shah and PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi
Thu, 05 Dec 2024 11:23:57 GMT
India captain was all praise for Washington Sundar but he also said he sees Ashwin and Jadeja "playing a huge role in the rest of the series"
Thu, 05 Dec 2024 09:16:12 GMT
Rookie legspinner Mishra, Renuka help India salvage positives in big defeat
Thu, 05 Dec 2024 07:44:25 GMT
India are 1-0 up, but their playing XI has more more changes than Australia's, who will field Boland instead of the injured Hazlewood
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 13:04:26 GMT
Marco Jansen is the big gainer this week, rising in both the Test bowlers' and allrounders' tables after his Durban starrer
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 12:57:40 GMT
Greg Barclay hopes Jay Shah brings "India into the international fold even more" but without making cricket "under the yoke of India"
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 10:25:23 GMT
"Quicks will get a bit out of it, spinners will be able to get height and bounce, but also important for us to get some partnerships in," says the curator about the pitch
Thu, 05 Dec 2024 05:26:10 GMT
Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur and Suryakumar Yadav play big roles in Mumbai's win over Services
Tue, 03 Dec 2024 18:07:47 GMT
It is yet to be decided whether such provisions are for the next three years or until the end of the current rights cycle in 2031
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 12:42:21 GMT
There could be significant ramifications for an ageing side if the Adelaide Test doesn't go well
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 12:36:16 GMT
Finalising the playing XI for the second Test will be on Gambhir's agenda once he is back with the touring party
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 06:54:56 GMT
Baroda felt Hardik's absence while Naman Dhir continued to impress in the fifth round of SMAT 2024
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 15:45:17 GMT
No team is assured of a place in the top two yet, with 15 Tests to go in this World Test Championship cycle
Sun, 01 Dec 2024 15:04:04 GMT
"I think that with the pink ball, it's better to bowl back of length. Because pitching it up, there's not a lot of swing"
Sun, 01 Dec 2024 12:46:45 GMT
Rohit Sharma slotted in at No. 4, while, from the other side, Sam Konstas impressed with a century at the top for PM's XI
Sun, 01 Dec 2024 10:41:17 GMT
At 36, he is the youngest ICC chair and he was elected unopposed in August
Sun, 01 Dec 2024 08:03:45 GMT
It is expected that Shreyas Iyer will, however, continue to lead the side
Mon, 02 Dec 2024 10:13:55 GMT
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi stressed once again that "whatever happens must be on the basis of equality"
Sat, 30 Nov 2024 08:23:47 GMT
The first day was washed out in Canberra
Fri, 29 Nov 2024 17:03:47 GMT
It was decided at the ICC Board meeting to give the PCB and BCCI more time to find a solution
Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:23:22 GMT
"Whether it's a pink ball or a red ball, the difference is really in the mind," batting coach Nayar says
Fri, 29 Nov 2024 13:13:40 GMT
Each of the five franchises have a total budget of INR 15 crore, up from INR 13.5 crore last year, to build their squads
Thu, 28 Nov 2024 15:39:08 GMT
Pujara also says that Washington should continue as the lone spinner ahead of Ashwin and Jadeja
Thu, 28 Nov 2024 14:32:12 GMT
"I feel I still have 3-4 years of cricket left in me, but I wanted to go out on a high, when I was at peak fitness and performing well"
Thu, 28 Nov 2024 12:30:47 GMT
The chances of a hybrid model were reduced on Thursday after a PCB official told ESPNcricinfo they had informed the ICC once again that it was off the table
Thu, 28 Nov 2024 03:06:35 GMT
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi says any decision on hosting should be made "on the basis of equality"
Wed, 27 Nov 2024 16:56:57 GMT
Chetry is yet to make her ODI debut but has played four T20Is
Wed, 27 Nov 2024 09:42:26 GMT
Bumrah went past Rabada and Hazlewood on the list following his superb performance in the Perth Test
Wed, 27 Nov 2024 06:44:00 GMT
ESPNcricinfo has learnt that India's head coach will be back with the team before the Adelaide Test on December 6
Tue, 26 Nov 2024 12:12:46 GMT
The PCB chairman remains steadfast about hosting the entire tournament in Pakistan
Tue, 26 Nov 2024 06:03:11 GMT
Travis Head made a positive 89 but the home side's hopes were forlorn from the start and it was over shortly after tea
Mon, 25 Nov 2024 18:12:36 GMT
Indian allrounders Krunal Pandya and Nitish Rana were sought after by RCB and RR
Mon, 25 Nov 2024 17:49:54 GMT
He had clattered a 58-ball century against Australia Under-19 in a four-day game less than two months ago
Mon, 25 Nov 2024 17:39:12 GMT
Who are the big-ticket players to find no bidders at the two-day IPL auction?
Mon, 25 Nov 2024 15:34:15 GMT
Uttar Pradesh breezed past Himachal Pradesh's total of 100 in just 13.3 overs
Mon, 25 Nov 2024 15:17:00 GMT
The six-sixes-in-an-over at the Delhi Premier League put him in the headlines, but he has been scoring big and quick runs for a while now
Mon, 25 Nov 2024 12:26:11 GMT
"Probably his best Test innings because he left the ball well," Bumrah said of Jaiswal
Sun, 24 Nov 2024 17:43:16 GMT
Arshdeep Singh was the first player sold at the mega auction, also to PBKS for INR 18 crore
Sun, 24 Nov 2024 17:17:33 GMT
"If given the responsibility, I would be more than happy to take it on," Venkatesh says about the KKR captaincy
Sun, 24 Nov 2024 16:04:34 GMT
"We spent a bit of money, but what we're trying to do is rebuild this franchise basically from the ground up," Ponting says on spending big on Chahal and Arshdeep
Sun, 24 Nov 2024 10:24:38 GMT
India's quicks made three late inroads in a dramatic conclusion to third day to put them on track for a huge victory
Sat, 23 Nov 2024 21:19:55 GMT
He is only the second Indian to have a 150-plus score in T20s after Kiran Navgire's 162 not out in 2022
Sat, 23 Nov 2024 13:24:44 GMT
The fast bowler didn't get a lot of sleep the night before his debut and started to cry after he got the India cap
Sat, 23 Nov 2024 10:33:52 GMT
The home side couldn't take a wicket across two sessions after Jasprit Bumrah haul had bundled them out for 104
Sat, 23 Nov 2024 04:26:11 GMT
Here's how ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball commentary recorded his wickets
Sat, 23 Nov 2024 03:23:44 GMT
An emergency meeting of the ICC Board will be convened to discuss this matter, with fewer than 100 days left to the expected start of the tournament
Fri, 22 Nov 2024 11:22:25 GMT
Hazlewood's four-for helped Australia bowl India out for 150 but the visitors ended the day on top
Fri, 22 Nov 2024 06:35:33 GMT
Former umpire Simon Taufel was of the opinion the ball had hit the edge in a tricky decision
Fri, 22 Nov 2024 03:38:22 GMT
The final of the 2025 IPL will be played on May 25
Fri, 22 Nov 2024 00:16:02 GMT
India are grappling with a minor personnel crisis, meaning they will need to rely to some extent on fringe players. Cummins and Co will be looking to exploit that
Thu, 21 Nov 2024 17:15:02 GMT
It will be inaugurated ahead of the India vs England men's T20I in Kolkata on January 22
Thu, 21 Nov 2024 10:32:34 GMT
Bumrah says bowlers have more perks as captains, while Cummins feels the captaincy experience has made his intuition stronger
Top