Rovman Powell won the toss and chose to bowl as West Indies kicked off their T20 World Cup campaign with a morning start against Papua New Guinea in Providence, Guyana.
West Indies opted to pick Roston Chase as an all-round spin option in the middle order, above Shimron Hetmyer, with Alzarri Joseph as the frontline quick alongside Andre Russell and Romario Shepherd. Left-arm spinners Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie round out the attack.
“With inclement weather around and also a fresh wicket, it’s natural to have a bowl,” Powell said. “Then our batters can assess and decide what’s the plan to play on the wicket.”
Papua New Guinea, who breezed through East Asia Pacific qualifying by winning six from six, included nine players who participated at the 2021 T20 World Cup, but there was no room for Norman Vanua, the nation’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is, in a four-man pace attack supplemented by Charles Amini’s spin.
“Even though there’s been a bit of rain around, the pitch looks really good,” PNG captain Asad Vala said. “We’ve got all the bases covered so really happy with the XI we’ve got. Preparation has been really good, we’ve been here for a couple of weeks, enjoying the Caribbean lifestyle and playing a few warm-up matches.”
This will be the first meeting between the sides in T20Is, with West Indies winning their only previous encounter, at the 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifier by six wickets.
