LEEDS, England – West Indies batsman Shai Hope spoke to members of the media after the team’s ninth and final match of the ICC Cricket World Cup against Afghanistan at Headingley. He topscored with an attractive 77 off 92 balls which included six boundaries and two sixes. It was his third half-century of the tournament and piloted West Indies to 311-6 off their 50 overs. They then bowled out Afghanistan for 288 off the final ball to end their campaign with victory by 23 runs.
The 24-year-old continued his great form at this venue and earned the Man of the Match award. Two years ago, he scored two centuries in the Test match against England at the same ground in an historic win.
Hope shared a second wicket stand of 88 with opener Evin Lewis – who made well-compiled 58 off 78 balls with six fours and two sixes. Later in the innings Nicholas Pooran made a superb 58 off just 43 balls to follow up his maiden century against Sri Lanka earlier this week. The 23-year-old left-hander ended the tournament with 367 runs at an average of 52.4 per innings to be the team’s leading runscorer.
It was the final ICC Cricket World Cup match for Chris Gayle. The 39-year-old ended his fifth tournament and was cheered by the large crowd. He had an impact with the ball – a crucial wicket as he conceded less than five runs per over. Carlos Brathwaite ended with four wickets and was well supported by Kemar Roach who took a vital early wicket and followed up with two more in the final stages.
“It was definitely a learning experience. Something that I will never forget. Playing each team in this format, obviously you have to be the better team on the day to progress in the tournament. But having said that it was a wonderful learning experience. I definitely gained something from it. Hopefully, myself and the other younger players in the team can use this and take it forward into their career,” Hope said.
Summarised match scores: West Indies 311-6 off 50 overs (Shai Hope 77, Evin Lewis 58, Nicholas Pooran 58, Jason Holder 45, Shimron Hetmyer 39; Dawlat Zadran 2-73) Afghanistan 288 off 50 overs (Imram Ali Khil 86, Rahmat Shah 62, Asghar Afghan 40; Carlos Brathwaite 4-63, Kemar Roach 3-37)
Follow West Indies: www.windiescricket.com
Follow The Tournament: https://www.cricketworldcup.com
Coverage will be LIVE on ESPN and ESPN2 in the Caribbean. ESPN Play – ESPN’s multiscreen live and on-demand broadband service – will stream all the matches.
FULL SQUAD (with shirt numbers)
Jason Holder (Captain) – 8
Chris Gayle (Vice Captain) – 45
Fabian Allen – 97
Sunil Ambris – 99
Carlos Brathwaite – 26
Darren Bravo – 46
Sheldon Cottrell – 19
Shannon Gabriel – 85
Shimron Hetmyer – 2
Shai Hope – 4
Evin Lewis – 17
Ashley Nurse – 5
Nicholas Pooran – 29
Kemar Roach – 24
Oshane Thomas – 42
SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
Friday, May 31: vs Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
West Indies won by 7 wickets; Details: https://bit.ly/31emdPM
Thursday, June 6: vs Australia at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Australia won by 15 runs; Details: https://bit.ly/2QSdU7v
Monday, June 10: vs South Africa at Hampshire Bowl, Southampton
No result due to rain; Details: https://bit.ly/2I5ZA8w
Friday, June 14: vs England at Hampshire Bowl, Southampton
England won by 8 wickets; Details: https://bit.ly/2KjbRsx
Monday, June 17: vs Bangladesh at the County Ground, Taunton
Bangladesh won by 7 wickets; Details: https://bit.ly/2XRv7Ap
Saturday, June 22: vs New Zealand at Old Trafford, Manchester
New Zealand won by 5 runs; Details: https://bit.ly/2ZDHAbx
Thursday, June 27: vs India at Old Trafford, Manchester
India won by 125 runs; Details: https://bit.ly/3203dot
Monday, July 1: vs Sri Lanka – at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
Sri Lanka won by 23 runs; Details: https://bit.ly/2XlwxqO
Thursday, July 4: vs Afghanistan at Headingley, Leeds
West Indies won by 23 runs
-ENDS-
