West Indies, had a terrible outing in the opening game of the Super 12 stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 against England on Saturday. The defending champions suffered a shocking batting collapse and got bundled out for a mere 55.
England went on to win the contest with six wickets and 70 balls to spare. Despite a dreadful batting display, West Indies bowlers left no stone unturned to make opposition batters run for their money.
Windies’ left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein impressed one and all with his splendid bowling and breathtaking fielding. He dismissed English stars Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone through brilliant catches off his own bowling. His dismissal of Livingstone, in particular, was one of the major highlights of the day. Hosein took an absolute stunner to get rid of Livingstone.
It all happened on the first delivery after the powerplay of England’s chase. Hosein bowled a fullish ball on Livingstone’s pads, and the batsman mistimed his flick.
The ball took the leading edge, and Hosein made a full-length dive to his left. He grabbed the ball with one hand and made sure that his fingers remained underneath the white leather while falling on the turf. The decision went upstairs, and the third umpire signalled it ‘out’.
Here is the video:
Describe this catch in one word for us coz we can't. 👇😳@AHosein21, the man with WINGS. 🔥
🎥: @T20WorldCup#AkealHosein #WonderCatch #DilSeDilli #DelhiBulls #ENGvWI #T20WorldCup #Cricket pic.twitter.com/EdG047V0wG
— Delhi Bulls (@DelhiBullsT10) October 23, 2021
Need to take this on the chin and move on: Kieron Pollard on embarrassing loss
When it comes to T20 World Cups, the loss of West Indies was the fourth in terms of losing a contest with most balls to spare. England chased down the paltry target in 14.2 overs and won the match with 70 balls to spare.
Winning with most balls to spare in T20 World Cups:
- 90 – SL v Net Chittagong 2014
- 77 – SL v Net Sharjah 2021
- 74 – NZ v Ken Durban 2007
- 70 – Eng v WI Dubai 2021*
On the embarrassing loss, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said it was completely unacceptable, but they need to take this on the chin and move forward in the competition.
“There’s not a lot to explain – it was an unacceptable performance, but we do need to take this on the chin and move on. It’s a matter of finding our straps; we have to find a way to get a fighting total on the board, today was a day where we couldn’t find that balance, but we need to forget this and move on. Each game is important, we still have four games in the tournament, and we’ll have to look forward,” said Pollard at the post-match presentation.
