BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – CRICKET fans in St. Kitts and Nevis are invited to witness history in the making for West Indies when the region’s female and male teams take on their Australian and English counterparts, respectively, in the Finals of the 2016 ICC World T20 Championships tomorrow morning (Apr. 3) at Kolkata, India.
The invitation was extended by Ambassador Jonel Powell, who said yesterday during an interview with WINN FM that one of the matches (WI male team) would be shown live on the big screen at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium and admission is free.
“Coming after the Semi-Final wins of the male and female West Indies cricket teams, I was inspired to go and meet with the Minister of Sport, the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister Shawn Richards and the PS for the Ministry of Sport, Mr. Herbert.
“Coming out of that discussion, I was given the go ahead to go and organise to show the Finals at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium on the big screen. So on Sunday morning at about 9:30 would be live on the big screen looking at the West Indies Male Final,” Powell said.
The Ambassador is of the view that some people would be questioning the reason for not relaying the female’s match. He however informed that “we actually contemplated it but it appears that because it is going to be so early it poses a bit of problem for us in relaying that particular match, but certainly the male Final will be shown”.
The male’s match starts at 9:30 a.m. and the gates to the Warner park Cricket Stadium will be opened from 8:00 a.m.
Powell indicated that normal security measures would be in place at the venue and fans could walk with their breakfast or lunch as well as their beverages, but no glass containers would be allowed.
He also indicated that a bar would be established at the western side of the venue for those who would require refreshments.
Both female and male teams won their Sem-Final matches played last Thursday (Mar. 31) at Mumbai.
Batting first, the WI women racked up 143 for six off their allotted 20 overs with Britney Cooper top scoring with a brilliant 61 off 48 balls and Stafanie Taylor chipping in with 25.
Chasing 143 for victory, the New Zealanders only managed 137 for eight off the allotted overs, which was due to the West Indians all-round performance in the field, especially Taylor who bagged three for 26.
Following the victory, Taylor, WI captain reportedly said, “We have been waiting for this for four years now and it's fantastic to be in a final. If we are consistent enough we can definitely win in the final.”
This year has seen a remarkable change in West Indies cricket following numerous problems, including those with the West Indies Cricket Board.
According to Cricinfo, “It would mean a lot,” said Taylor when asked about the possible impact of the men and women doing the double in the Finals.
Cricinfo quoted her as saying: “Words can’t really explain how much it would mean for both teams. Especially for us (the women), because we’ve never been to the Final before. For us to get this one would be like a dream come true.”
In the males Semi-Final against the highly-favoured India, WI won the toss and chose to field.
Led by an unbeaten 89 off 47 balls from the world’s best T20 batsman, Rohit Kohli, India had placed a commanding 192 for two off their allotted overs.
In reply, though the West Indians lost their most prolific batsman, Chris Gale for five, Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell saw the team home with an unbeaten 80-run fourth wicket partnership. But this was after Simmons and Johnson Charles (52 off 36 balls) chalked up a third-wicket stand of 97.
Simmons, who is no stranger to the Mumbai ground, rode on his luck on three occasions to take West Indies into the Final to face England. He earned reprieves when on 18, 50 and 68 with the first two off no balls and the third being a catch taken on the ropes by Ajinkya Rahane.
Tomorrow will see WI women taking on the mighty Australia while their male counterparts will battle against England for the Champion Trophies.
No team has ever won the tournament on two occasions and tomorrow could be historic for the West Indies, not only by the male team winning for the second time and the female for the first, but by making it three global victories for the year on the heels of the boys winning the Under-19 ICC World Cup.
This is the sixth tournament since its inauguration in 2007. The first was hosted by South Africa and the Final was played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, where India defeated Pakistan to take the trophy.
The second one was in England in 2009 and it was won by Pakistan who defeated Sri Lanka in the Final at the historic Lord’s, while the third tournament was hosted by the West Indies in 2010 and England defeated Australia in the Final at Kensington Oval, Barbados.
The fourth tournament was played in Sri Lanka in 2012 and West Indies won the Final by defeating the host. However, in 2014, Sri Lanka bounced back to take the trophy by beating India in the Final at Dhaka in Bangladesh.
