Two-time World Cup winners West Indies managed to secure a 39-run win over the USA in their first Group A match of the 2023 ODI World Cup Qualifiers at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harare on Sunday, despite lower-order batter Gajanand Singh scoring a superb 101 not out off 109 balls and giving a scare to the side from the Caribbean.
West Indies were bowled out for 297 by the USA, with Johnson Charles, Roston Chase and Jason Holder scoring fifties and were well-supported by decent knocks from captain Shai Hope and wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran.
For the USA, Saurabh Netravalkar, Steven Taylor and Kyle Phillip took three wickets to make up a little for main pacer Ali Khan’s absence due to an ICC suspension. However, the USA fielders didn’t step up to complement the bowlers as four chances of taking chances were shelled.
The USA new-ball opening pair of Netravalkar and Phillip proved to be handy in the opening overs when they got the ball to jag around and asked several questions of the West Indies batters.
The duo got one each as the West Indies lost their openers within the first six overs. At 15/2 things looked dire for West Indies, but skipper Hope joined hands with Charles to stitch together a crucial stand of 115 runs for the third wicket which stabilised the innings.
Both the batters reached their half-centuries before the 25-over mark as West Indies reached 121/2. But after that, Hope fell for 54 in the 27th over after hitting a Nosthush Kenjige delivery towards the cover sweeper.
In the very next over, Taylor brought the downfall of Charles on 66, who skied one towards short third man. Chase and Pooran then came together to rebuild the West Indies innings once more. While Pooran was in his usual free-flowing self, Chase held the innings together from the other end as West Indies got to 187/4 in 35 overs.
However, part-timer Taylor struck back for the USA and took back-to-back wickets in the form of Pooran (43 from 28) and Rovman Powell (0) in the 36th over. Their quest for a total closing in on 300 was then guided by Jason Holder, who played a fiery knock of 56 off 40, but were eventually bowled out for 297.
In response, USA got off to a sedate start as Sushant Modani and Steven Taylor added 35 runs for the first wicket before the former was taken at third man off a Holder delivery in the eighth over.
In the very next over, Mayers accounted for Taylor (18). USA’s chances were badly hit when Monank Patel and Saiteja Mukkamalla fell in back-to-back overs, leaving the side at 55/4 in 13.4 overs.
But Gajanand, coming out to bat at number six, took the attack to West Indies bowlers. He added 42 runs for the fifth wicket with Aaron Jones. The stand was broken when Jones was run out in the 21st over as the USA reached 106/5 at the halfway stage of the chase.
Gajanand and Shayan Jahangir added 58 runs off 83 balls for the sixth wicket, before the latter fell to Alzarri Joseph. After Shayan’s dismissal, the West Indies win seemed to be a foregone conclusion as the run rate had crept over 10.
But Gajanand and Kenjige added 76 runs for the eighth wicket and remained unbeaten till the end of the game. Gajanand also scored his maiden ODI hundred in the final over of the game, being 101 not out, but it wasn’t enough to cause an upset win over West Indies, who would be relieved to come out on the top with a victory.
Brief scores:
West Indies 297 in 49.3 overs (Johnson Charles 66, Jason Holder 56, Saurabh Netravalkar 3/-53, Steven Taylor 3-53) beat USA 258/7 in 50 overs (Gajanand Singh 101 not out, Kyle Mayers 2-30, Alzarri Joseph 2-68) by 39 runs
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