WI vs. Ind – 3rd T20I
Mayers will open batting for West Indies at a T20 World Cup? Who would have believed it ? A series of unexpected events now means he could well return to Australia as an opening melon To beat.
So let’s talk about Mayers now. An ankle injury suffered in 2018 forced him to reduce his bowling workload and turn into a versatile hitter. In 2018, Mayers was out of a CPL contract and, after recovering, returned to action, earning high returns in a low-key setting in Oslo.
“He is one of the most important players in the West Indies at the moment and, [in] every game he continues to grow and improve and that’s a wonderful thing.”
Pooran-sur-Mayers
“I first opened the stick in Norway,” Mayers said. Caribbean Cricket Podcast Last year. “Then when I came [back] from Norway, I came home and my father asked me where I wanted to play at the club. So we had T20s and I was like, ‘you know what? At the top (laughs).’
“I broke a record in Norway, then I broke a record for Carlton [club] as well as in the domestic T20. So I thought it [opening in Norway] was a stepping stone and it gave me another option. It showed me what I’m capable of.”
When Avesh Khan dug in a 140mph hip-high delivery, Mayers jumped into position quickly and the short arm rammed him over the center wicket for four. Most of the rapids in modern T20 cricket rely on heavy lengths to keep batters from driving and shooting, but Mayers developed this short-armed jab to counter them and create scoring opportunities. The next ball was even shorter from Avesh, but Mayers was one step ahead of him. He sat on that exact length and pulled it with the strong wind on the square leg for six years.
The ball didn’t swing for Bhuvneshwar Kumar but he still kept things tight by targeting the stumps, with leg side protection. Mayers, however, found a way to score once more by stepping back and sending a leg stump ball through extra coverage. Mayers was responsible for 29 of the 45 runs West Indies had scored in the first six overs.
Since the start of 2022, Mayers has scored at 147.44 on the power play – the highest among openers who have played at least 10 innings in T20I cricket in that span. Rohit Sharma (140.16), Regis Chakabva (137.60), Andy Balbirnie (136.36) and Paul Stirling (123.21) are the others in the top five on this list.
Immediately after the power play in the third T20I, Rohit matched R Ashwin with Mayers, but the southpaw kept the intention high by stretching and pumping the offspinner left from long-off. Mayers then briefly looked distraught when Hardik Pandya hid the ball from his swinging arc with a mixture of slower cutters and deliveries in the background.
But, after trailing and missing three straight against Hardik, Mayers adjusted and played late, deliberately opening up the bat face and shoving a four between the fullback and the short third man. When Avesh, one of India’s most inexperienced setters on tour, came back on the attack in the 14th, Mayers pursued him once again.
He then tossed Bhuvneshwar with the wind for six more, but when he tried to repeat the shot the bowler took over and took him out for 73 balls out of 50.
“It’s about communication,” Mayers said of her partnership with King. “Whoever goes down to the flyer, you keep giving them the strike. Once the person is hot, you keep feeding them to get them going and give the other person who’s not going time to get in and to click at the end.”
“Kyle has been impressive so far in every format,” Pooran said. “He is one of the most important players in the West Indies at the moment and [in] every game he continues to grow and improve and that’s a wonderful thing.
“In the future, we hope he can keep getting better and better and, you know, he’s also working very hard. He’s now being rewarded and we’re really happy about that.” Australia is calling you, then?
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo