Team West Indies in action© AFP

File photo of Alzarri Joseph© AFP

West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph was hit with a two-match suspension.© AFP

West Indies head coach Daren Sammy did not hold back when addressing fast bowler Alzarri Joseph’s behaviour during the third ODI against England in Bridgetown. Joseph’s actions, which included leaving the field after a disagreement with captain Shai Hope, were publicly criticized by Sammy, who labelled the behaviour “unacceptable.” The incident unfolded in the fourth over when Joseph expressed frustration with Hope over a field placement. Despite taking the wicket of England’s Jordan Cox caught behind, Joseph did not celebrate with his team.

Instead, he silently returned to his mark, and at the end of the over, left the field without notice. His sudden departure forced West Indies to field with only ten players for the start of the fifth over, sparking confusion among teammates and spectators alike.

“Behavior like that is unacceptable on my cricket field,” Sammy said in an interview with TalkSPORT after the game. “We will be friends…but in the culture I’m trying to build, that’s unacceptable. We will definitely have a chat about that.”

Joseph briefly returned to the pitch at the beginning of the sixth over, but his frustrations seemed to linger. After two misfields off his own bowling, which led to overthrows, he once again left the field. Although he resumed bowling later in the innings, finishing with respectable figures of 2 for 45, his visible discontent overshadowed his performance.

Since being appointed head coach in May 2023, Sammy has emphasised creating a positive team culture within West Indies cricket. Known for his player-management skills, Sammy has encouraged a number of players, including Andre Russell and Evin Lewis, to return to the international game. He is confident in his approach, even with difficult conversations.

“I pride myself on having the difficult conversations,” Sammy said. “But in a way that everybody understands what is needed to be done. To see guys going out there and slowly progressing in the right direction makes me proud.”

Despite Joseph’s controversial exit, West Indies went on to secure the ODI series 2-1. The team now turns its attention to the upcoming T20 series against England, beginning Saturday. Sammy hinted that star players like Nicholas Pooran and Akeal Hosein, who were absent in the recent series against Sri Lanka, would return for the T20Is.

“Our T20 team is our most successful team and our most settled team. So, yes, we incorporate some new guys…but our T20 team normally picks itself,” he remarked.

Saint Lucia Kings pacer Alzarri Joseph lost his cool during a Caribbean Premier League (CPL) match against the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Saturday. The incident happened on the penultimate ball of the ninth over with Guyana closing in on a comprehensive win. Joseph bowled to Shimron Hetmyer who punched the ball straight back at the latter. However, Joseph’s frustration boiled over as he threw the ball towards the stumps, even though Hetmyer was rooted into the crease. After doing the same, Joseph gave a long stare to Hetmyer, who responded in style on the next ball.

On the next ball, Hetmyer hit him for a monstrous six over midwicket, with Guyana needing just nine runs to win. The incident involving Joseph and Hetmyer has gone viral.

Hetmyer strikes back #CPL24 #CricketPlayedLouder #BiggestPartyInSport pic.twitter.com/pGzVBTxCD4

— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 14, 2024

Coming back to the match, Saint Lucia Kings were bowled out for a paltry total of 100 after Guyana Amazon Warriors opted to bowl first in Gros Islet.

In reply, Guyana achieved the target in 10 overs, and with six wickets to spare.

Faf du Plessis, St Lucia Kings captain, expressed his disappointment over the result. Speaking after the match, he said: “Extremely disappointing. What we did wrong there, batting first on a pitch that was tacky…just assessing the conditions and playing properly. When you lose wickets like that consistently…they did well to restrict us. There are areas that you can improve on but for me, it is about assessing conditions. In St Kitts, you don’t mind guys having a crack but on a new wicket, you can probably take your time and take the shine off. You always try to be positive but that is the learning from tonight. (On playing the Trinbago Knight Riders next) Two tough games in a row. We will reassess and see where we can get better tactically. Tonight was not our best. Most of our wickets was batters giving their wickets away and something for us to work on.”

On the contrary, Guyana skipper Imran Tahir was delighted with the result and praised his bowlers for setting up a crucial win.

“I am just happy that it came out nicely and I did the job for my team. I believe everyone did their job from the start. Whoever bowled, in the middle and at the start, did a great job. We had a plan and it worked for us. We have been playing good cricket, nice to see the results going our way. (On what they plan to do in the upcoming week) We deserve this week off. We are going to go and get together on one of the evenings. Pretty much chilling and knowing more about Barbados. Take it slowly for one or two days and then get back to it. We have always been very grateful to the fans, you guys have been amazing and their support is really important to us. A big thanks to everyone (around the world),” Tahir said at the post-match press conference.

ENG vs WI 2nd Test Day 4 LIVE© AFP

Jasprit Bumrah was the only Indian who made the cut in a 2024 T20 World Cup ‘Team of the Tournament’ made by England greats Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain. The team, which has been made on the premise of the group stage of the T20 World Cup, saw the likes of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Arshdeep Singh be left out, despite stellar performances. The English duo – who are now reputed commentators – analysed and explained their choices on Sky Sports Cricket.

Virat Kohli – the all-time highest run-getter in T20 World Cup history – will be hoping to make the Team of the Tournament at a later stage, having scored just five runs so far.

“We had Bumrah, obviously. He had to be in,” quipped Nasser Hussain. Bumrah has picked up five wickets in India’s first three games, including two Player of the Match awards, against Ireland and arch-rivals Pakistan.

Atherton and Hussain showed a lot of love for some of the unsung heroes of the tournament. Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Scotland’s Brandon McMullen and USA’s Aaron Jones all made their XI.

After winning IPL 2024, Gurbaz has been exceptional, scoring 167 runs in four innings at a striker rate of more than 150. McMullen has scored at an even faster rate, boasting a strike rate of 170.

Australia’s Marcus Stoinis was the only all-rounder picked by Atherton and Hussain. Stoinis is the third top run-scorer of the 2024 T20 World Cup so far, at a phenomenal strike rate of 190. Incredibly, he has also picked six wickets in four games, with an economy of just 5.77.

The Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup gets underway on Wednesday, June 19, as hosts USA face South Africa in Group II.

Atherton and Hussain’s ‘Team of the Tournament So Far’:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Travis Head, Brandon McMullen, Aaron Jones, Marcus Stoinis, David Miller, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hosein, Adam Zampa, Jasprit Bumrah, Fazalhaq Farooqi.

More than eight years after Carlos Brathwaite’s four sixes at Eden Gardens gave them their second T20 world title, a wounded West Indies will look to redeem themselves at home when they begin their campaign in the event’s ninth edition by taking on Papua New Guinea in Georgetown, Guyana on Sunday. Brathwaite had slammed Ben Stokes for four successive sixes in the final over to pull off one of the most astonishing chases that made the West Indies the first team to win the T20 World Cup twice. Their maiden triumph was in 2012.

But what followed was years of agony as the team found itself lost in transition. In 2021, they endured four defeats in five games to make a Super 12 exit.

Worse was in store in the 2022 edition in Australia when they failed to qualify for the main round after shock defeats to minnows Scotland and Ireland.

It’s been 2982 days since the memorable night at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, something they would be desperate to reclaim especially when the tournament is at home.

Their two-time T20 World Cup winning skipper Darren Sammy is back as a coach and the Rovman Powell-led side already made its intention clear with a ruthless win over Australia in a warmup match.

But that Australia was a depleted side as only nine players from their squad were available for the match.

Nicolas Pooran will play a pivotal role in the middle-order, but West Indies boast additional firepower with Powell, Andre Russell, Shimron Hetmyer, Sherfane Rutherford, and Romario Shepherd, making them one of the most formidable batting line-ups in the tournament.

Russell has been in exceptional form, both with bat and ball, after aiding Kolkata Knight Riders in clinching their third IPL title recently.

West Indies will also be looking to become the first team to win a T20 World Cup at home.

They have replaced the experienced but injured Jason Holder with left-arm fast bowler Obed McCoy.

McCoy was the leading wicket-taker during the West Indies A’s recent tour to Nepal, grabbing eight wickets in five matches.

Assadollah Vala-led PNG will make their second appearance after 2021 after sealing their spot via the East Asia-Pacific regional final in July 2023.

Vala is one of 10 players from their 2021 campaign, with that edition’s reserve member Jack Gardner picked in the 15-player group this time. Leg-spinning all-rounder CJ Amini will be his deputy.

The side boasts no fewer than eight recognised all-rounders, with both right and left-arm bowling options.

Left-arm quick Sema Kamea and Kabua Vagi Morea both enjoyed qualifying action, with the latter taking a hat-trick in the game against the Philippines.

USA favourites vs Canada

A team full of expatriates, tournament co-hosts USA, coached by former Australian batter Stuart Law, will promise some surprises when it kicks off the T20 World Cup taking on qualifiers Canada in a battle of debutants.

The USA have proved that they will be no pushovers, having beaten the full-member side Bangladesh 2-1 in the build up to the tournament.

They will also have the edge having beaten Canada 4-0 recently.

The side will be boosted by former New Zealand player and 2015 World Cup finalist Corey Anderson. The hosts will be led by wicket-keeper batter Monank Patel.

Born in Anand, Monank played for his home state at age-group level before making the US his home in 2016.

He was the top-scorer in the World T20 Americas qualifier 2018 with 208 runs from six innings and made his T20I debut against UAE in 2019.

The team will also feature some familiar names in former Mumbai and Rajasthan Royals left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh and ex-Delhi and Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter Milind Kumar.

They also have Saurabh Netravalkar, the most capped USA player, Aaron Jones, and opener Steven Taylor, their highest run-scorer in international cricket.

Tearaway quick Ali Khan is also fit for the tournament, shaking off a hamstring injury which kept him out of the Canada series.

Batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar, who played 18 T20Is for Canada from 2012 to 2019, has now switched sides and will be seen in the USA jersey. He made his T20I debut for the USA against Canada in April this year.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Saad Bin Zafar brings a wealth of experience to the Canada team, with top-order batter Aaron Johnson and left-arm seamer Kaleem Sana also expected to feature heavily in a side with just four players under the age of 30.