West Indies, the co-hosts of the T20 World Cup 2024, made a bold statement ahead of the global event, thumping Australia by 35 runs in the warm-up fixture at Port of Spain.
It is pertinent to mention that Australia were missing six of their main players—Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, and Marcus Stoinis—playing with just nine players and using coaches as sub-fielders, as they did in their warm-up game against Namibia a few days ago.
Pooran-Powell mania helps the men in maroon post a mountain of runs
Australia won the toss and invited West Indies to bat first. Shai Hope departed for just 10 runs to his name. Johnson Charles and Nicholas Pooran forged 90 runs for the second wicket, but the former looked sluggish in the middle, scoring 40 runs off 31 balls. It was Nicky P, who went honkers and bonkers to keep the scoreboard ticking at a brisk pace. The southpaw played a swashbuckling knock of 75 runs off just 25 balls, amassing 5 fours and 8 sixes in the process. 
Following the wicket of Pooran, skipper Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford took responsibility for scoring in the latter half of the innings. Coming fresh from the IPL, Powell mustered 52 runs off 25 balls, smashing 4 fours and sixes each. Rutherford, too, proved his mettle with the bat, mustering an unbeaten 18-ball 47 runs and helping his side post a mammoth 257/4 in 20 overs.
Adam Zampa snarred a couple of wickets for Australia, while Tim David and Ashton Agar celebrated a solitary wicket. Josh Hazlewood went wicketless and conceded 55 runs in his 4-over quota, an area of concern for Australia.
Some Positives for Australia with the bat
In pursuit of a sturdy total, Aussie batters kept the run rate in check from the outset but also kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Ashton Agar played a cameo of 13-ball 28 runs, while Warner contributed 6-ball 13 runs. Skipper Mitch Marsh had a poor outing with the bat, scoring just 4 runs, but Josh Inglis and Tim David (25 off 12) kept the chase alive with their barrage of strokes.
However, the nine-man side failed to handle the scoreboard pressure and lost wickets at crucial junctures. Inglis contributed 55 runs before falling prey to Motie, while Nathan Ellis and Matthew Wade chipped in with handy knocks of 39 and 25 runs, respectively. Australia were restricted to 222/7 in 20 overs, falling 35 runs short of the target.
Alzarri Joseph and Gudakesh Motie shared a couple of wickets each, but the former was a tad expensive in his spell. Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, and Obed McCoy ended with a wicket to their names.
Jason Holder’s replacement for the T20 World Cup, Obed McCoy, leaked 50 runs in his spell, while the tall lanky pacer Alzarri Joseph conceded 44 runs. This is a void the bowling coach will look to address ahead of the mega event.
