West Indies keeper-batter Nicholas Pooran pounded 8 sixes in his whirlwind knock against Australia in the T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up match against Australia on Friday at Port of Spain, Trinidad. The left-handed batter faced 25 deliveries and clobbered 75 runs, taking the co-hosts to a massive total of 257 in 20 overs.
The Australian spinners in Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar took a beating, leaking 120 runs in their collective 10 overs for 3 wickets. Tim David, who also bowls spin, surprisingly proved to be the most economical bowler, bagging figures of 4-0-40-1. Johnson Charles struck 40 runs off 31 deliveries, while captain Rovman Powell clobbered a 25-ball 52. Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford remained unbeaten on 18 and 47, respectively. The latter had hammered 47 off only 18 deliveries with 4 fours and as many maximums.
Undermanned Australia fall short despite excellent fight:
With the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, and Marcus Stoinis yet to join the Australian squad, the 2021 T20 champions are down to 9 men. Ashton Agar opened the innings with David Warner, with the latter smashing 28 off 13 deliveries.
Josh Inglis top-scored with 55 of 30 balls, while Tim David and Matthew Wade hammered 25 runs each. Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa kept the big hits coming, but the target proved to be a bridge too far and Australia were held off at 222-7 in 20 overs.
