A last-wicket stand of 85 between Man-of-the-Match Jeavor Royal and Fabian Allen paved the way for Jamaica Scorpions close six-run-win by Duckworth/Lewis over the Leeward Islands Hurricanes earlier today.
It was the first win for the Jamaican who has already been eliminated from the final four and came in the unlikeliest of manners.
Put into bat, Jamaica were looking likely to lose their fourth game in a row at 135 for 9 as Quinton Boatswain (2-35), Ashmead Nedd (3-23) and Terance Ward (2-54) scythed through the fragile Jamaican batting.
Only Paul Palmer (23) and Rovman Powell (29) posed any resistance to the Leewards’ bowling until Royal and Allen came together mounting an 85-run 10th wicket partnership that took Jamaica to 220 all out.
Allen scored 44 from 42 balls with three sixes and three fours before he was last out. Royal remained unbeaten on 38 from 40 balls from which he got two sixes and two fours.
Chasing a modest 221, the Leewards were 72 for 3 when Nitish Kumar and Devon Thomas looked to steer the team towards victory with a fourth-wicket stand of 64 when Jamie Merchant, who took 3-44, dismissed Kumar for 51.
Thomas eventually fell for 44 as the Leewards stumbled to 152 for 6, needing a further 69 from the remaining 71 balls.
Colin Archibald and Terance Ward held up the Jamaicans with an eighth-wicket stand of 27 but then the weather intervened shortly after Rovman Powell got Archibald for 18.
Royal, who took the wickets of Kieran Powell for 17 and Kacey Carty for 13, returned 2-31 to complete his man-of-the-match performance.
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Highest prize money announced for historic ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024
The ninth edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will see the winners of the 20-team tournament earn at least $2.45 million, the highest prize money in the history of the tournament, along with the trophy that they will lift at Kensington Oval in Barbados on 29 June.
The runners-up will receive at least $1.28 million, while the losing semi-finalists walk away with $787,500 each from the total, historic prize pot of $11.25 million.
The four teams that fail to make it out of the Super 8s will earn $382,500 each, while the teams placed ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th receive $247,500 each. Participants who finish 13th to 20th place will return $225,000.
And every team receives an additional $31,154 for each match they win barring the semi-finals and final.
The 55-match event will be played over 28 days, across nine venues in the West Indies and USA, making this the biggest ICC T20 World Cup ever.
The format of this year’s tournament will see 40 first round matches played before the top eight progress to the Super 8s. Four teams will then qualify for the semi-finals, which will be staged in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, ending with the final in Barbados where the 2024 men’s champions will be crowned.
ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said: “This event is historic in so many ways so it is fitting that the prize money for players reflects that. Hundreds of millions of fans around the world will be entertained by the players in what we’re hoping to be an Out of This World event.”
Namibia secures thrilling Super Over victory against Oman in T20 World Cup opener
In a nail-biting encounter, Namibia triumphed over Oman in a Super Over during their 2024 ICC T20 World Cup opener on Sunday night. After both teams were tied with scores of 109, Namibia outclassed Oman in the one-over eliminator, setting the stage for a memorable start to the tournament.
Despite being bundled out for 109, Oman mounted a dramatic comeback with the ball, pushing the match into the Super Over. However, Namibia, led by the composed and experienced David Wiese, dominated the Super Over to secure a crucial victory.
This match marked only the third time a men's T20 World Cup game has gone to a Super Over and the first since 2012. Wiese and Gerhard Erasmus racked up an impressive 21 runs against the seasoned Bilal Khan. Wiese then ensured Oman couldn't pull off another comeback, limiting them to just 10 runs.
On a challenging pitch where runs were hard to come by, Wiese began the Super Over in style, drilling a full delivery through the covers and then smashing a full toss for a six wide of long-on. Erasmus continued the onslaught, flick-sweeping for a boundary and squeezing a yorker past short third to post the highest score in a T20 World Cup Super Over.
Wiese then took control with the ball, conceding just two runs off his first two deliveries before dismissing Naseem Khushi with an edge onto the stumps. Oman managed only a single off the next ball, making the target unreachable, and Wiese closed out the win, becoming only the fourth player in men's T20Is to bat and bowl in a Super Over.
Namibia’s modest chase was spearheaded by Jan Frylinck, who brought the equation down to 18 runs needed off the last three overs. Mehran Khan began the 18th over with four byes, then had JJ Smit caught at long-on and bowled three consecutive dots to Wiese.
In the final over, with Namibia needing just five runs, Mehran bowled Frylinck off his pads for a 48-ball 45. He then trapped new batter Zane Green lbw and kept the pressure on, allowing only two runs from Wiese and nearly securing victory for Oman.
Namibia’s decision to bowl first paid off when Ruben Trumpelmann trapped Kashyap Prajapati lbw on the first ball. Trumpelmann then dismissed Oman captain Aqib Ilyas with a searing inswinging yorker and struck again in his next over, reducing Oman to 10 for 3.
Zeeshan Maqsood attempted to rebuild with a flurry of boundaries but fell to Bernard Scholtz. Namibia’s spinners, Scholtz and Erasmus, then stifled Oman’s scoring, bowling 44 consecutive deliveries without conceding a boundary.
Oman managed a late surge, with Ayaan Khan attacking Scholtz for a six. However, tight bowling from Wiese and Trumpelmann restricted Oman, with the latter finishing with figures of 4-21.
Bilal Khan provided Oman an early breakthrough, but Namibia navigated the powerplay cautiously. The pressure from Oman's spinners, particularly Ilyas who bowled a maiden, slowed the scoring rate. Despite dropped catches, Jan Frylinck anchored Namibia’s innings, helping take the game to the last over.
Having come so close, Oman will rue their missed chances. Meanwhile, Namibia, buoyed by Wiese’s heroics, will look to build on this thrilling victory as they progress in the T20 World Cup.
Powell says West Indies only '60 to 70 per cent there' after World Cup opener
West Indies only played at 60 to 70 per cent of their capabilities as they survived a scare to beat Papua New Guinea in their T20 World Cup opener, admits captain Rovman Powell.
The Windies followed the United States' lead in making a winning start on home soil on Sunday, though they were pushed close in a five-wicket win over the team ranked 20th in the world.
The co-hosts collapsed from 61-1 to 97-5 and needed 37 runs from their final 19 balls to reach their target of 137, but Andre Russell and Roston Chase combined to get them over the line.
They take on Uganda in their second match next Sunday before rounding off their Group C campaign against New Zealand and Afghanistan.
Powell knows they have work to do despite their victory, saying in his post-match interview: "Papua New Guinea's plans were simple, and they played some really good cricket. It is important to get two points in this tournament.
"Roston bowled pretty well, and to come out under pressure, with the way he played, it was what we needed.
"We are 60 to 70 per cent there. We can be better in all three departments. Hopefully, we can correct that for the second game."
Chase was named Player of the Match after hitting an unbeaten 42 off 27 deliveries, and he insists Windies did not take Papua New Guinea lightly.
"They're not an A-List team but we don't want to take any team lightly in the World Cup. We came out with the mentality that we were playing Australia or India," he said.
"We started slowly but we had a chat at the halfway stage and the guys just wanted to rally and put our best foot forward."
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