West Indies batting star Nicholas Pooran felt disappointed about getting out for 98 against Afghanistan in a T20 World Cup 2024 match at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia. Still, he was glad he helped his team reach a winning score. The West Indies easily beat Afghanistan by 104 runs. Pooran was named the Player of the Match for his impressive 98 runs against Afghanistan. He set several records during his game-winning performance.
Pooran was the first West Indies player to reach 2000 runs in T20I cricket. He also surpassed Chris Gayle’s record for the most sixes in T20Is, hitting 128 sixes. In addition, he was part of an over by Azmatullah Omarzai where the bowler gave away 36 runs, which is the highest number of runs in a single over in T20Is. Unfortunately, Pooran got out after scoring 98 runs when Azmatullah made a great direct hit.
Pooran said he decided to help the West Indies team score 218 runs to win the game.
“You don’t want to be almost at 100 runs and then get out, but the goal was to reach a good score. I looked at the conditions early in the game. We started well during the powerplay. I had to take charge in the middle part of the game when the Afghanistan spinners were bowling. I felt it was my chance to shine and I just went for it,” Pooran explained in an interview after the match.
Pooran further added,”Hitting the ball can be tricky when it moves slowly and spins, but when you have a nice pitch like this, you need to take advantage of it and appreciate the conditions. This didn’t just start today; it began about 12-14 months ago. Our team has been consistent, and we reached number 3 in the rankings. In the last game, Rutherford took his chance and played really well, which motivated us.”
Pooran led the West Indies to their best score ever in a T20 World Cup. The Afghanistan team struggled with the pressure of the scoreboard and were all out for just 114 runs.
