West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran has an apologetic message for his fans after the two-time ICC T20 World Cup champions were shockingly knocked out of the tournament on Friday. They were defeated by Ireland after the low total of 146 runs set by the Windies was easily chased down by the Irish in just 17.3 overs. Nicholas Pooran apologized to the fans and outlined how they were hurt due to the bleak outcome on Friday.
Nicholas Pooran sends a message to the fans
The Nicholas Pooran-led side were without the likes of Shimron Hetmyer and Andre Russell. They further lacked depth and looked out of sorts, suffering a 42-run defeat against Scotland.
In his post-match interview, Nicholas Pooran said, “It’s tough, we haven’t batted well in this tournament and didn’t today either. Coming here and defending 145 was really difficult. Asking the bowlers to defend the total was really going to be a challenge. Congratulations to Ireland, I think they batted fantastically and bowled well.”
While reflecting on his side’s performance further, Pooran added, “King is batting wonderfully, and Joseph is stepping up with the ball for us. This is a learning experience for us. We have disappointed our fans and ourselves. It’s definitely hurting. I have disappointed my guys with the way I performed.”
Ireland pulled of one of the biggest upsets in the T20 World Cup by eliminating Windies. The Irishmen stunned the fans with a nine-wicket win that also sealed their Super 12 berth on Friday. It was their 32-year-old veteran opener Paul Stirling who smashed an unbeaten 66 from 48 balls (6×4, 2×6) to seal the chase with 15 balls to spare after legspinner Gareth Delany’s career-best figures of 4-0-16-3 restricted the Windies to 146 for five.
Playing their seventh T20 World Cup, it is only the second time Ireland made it to the second stage following their Super 8 appearance at the 2009 edition in England. West Indies, who are the most successful side of the T20 World Cup having won the titles in 2012 and 2016, thus cut a sorry figure, crashing out of the group stage with just one win from three matches.
