Daren Sammy: Windies win over Afghans 'ruthless'

HEAD coach of the West Indies Daren Sammy, said the performance from his players against Afghanistan was a ruthless one, saying a strong message was sent to other teams in the 2024 International Cricket Council T20 World Cup.

West Indies crushed Afghanistan by 104 runs on June 17 at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia. The win over the Afghans was the most convincing display for West Indies in Group C.

"We were tested in the first three games," Sammy said in a video posted on the Windies Cricket Twitter page. "We responded very well. The skipper (Rovman Powell) spoke about being ruthless and sending a strong message in conditions that favour us and I think that is exactly what we did today."

Before the win over Afghanistan, West Indies defeated Papua New Guinea, Uganda and New Zealand. The batting performance against PNG and New Zealand was not as solid as it was against Afghanistan.

West Indies scored the highest ever power play score in the history of the T20 World Cup, racking up 92/1 after six overs. Sammy highlighted that achievement and mentioned some of the individual accomplishments. Nicholas Pooran went past 2,000 runs in T20 Internationals and has now struck the most sixes for West Indies in the format, passing T20 legend Chris Gayle. Pooran, who struck 98 against Afghanistan, now has 128 sixes compared to Gayle's 124.

Sammy is satisfied that West Indies have been able to count on different players during the tournament.

"We have played four games and we've had four different man of the matches. That means it is a team thing. Performances coming from different places, different individuals and that makes us really, really strong. Like I said we have been tested, but today we showed why we believe we could go out and win this tournament."

Sammy gave the match ball to fast bowler Obed McCoy, who grabbed 3/14 in three overs in his first match of the tournament. "Nicky P (Pooran), as much as I want to give you this, I think Obed McCoy waiting for his game coming on a flat track (and) doing the business."

Johnson Charles, who scored 43 off 27 balls and took two catches, was congratulated for his effort against Afghanistan.