A brutal 51-ball century from Rovman Powell blasted West Indies to a 20-run victory over
England in the January 27 third encounter and a 2-1 lead in their five-match T20I series
at Kensington Oval. Powell muscled the hosts to 224 for 5 with an astonishing 107 off
just 53 deliveries amid a 122-run stand for the third wicket with Nicholas Pooran, who
was the perfect cornerman to Powell’s heavyweight destroyer with a sublimely crafted 70 off
43.
Making his first appearance of the series after being called up to bolster West
Indies’ batting in place of allrounder Odean Smith, Powell did exactly what his
side asked of him. Powell’s 10 sixes were breath-taking as he clubbed England’s
bowlers into the stands time and again, particularly down the ground with one
of his efforts being measured at more than 100 metres. He brought up his
fifty with a crunching effort off Liam Livingstone over deep extra cover and
his only nervous moments appeared as his century came within reach of just
one more hammer blow during a tight start to Reece Topley’s final over. But,
having brought up his hundred with a two-run punch to square leg, he freed
his arms once more to pump the ball back over the bowler’s head and clear
the ropes for the tenth time.
Powell fell two balls later, picking out Livingstone as he ran in from long-off
but by that stage, he’d done irrevocable damage.
International cricket has not been easy for Rovman Powell. His explosive
January 27th century against England was his 60th innings for West Indies
across both white-ball formats and
only the sixth time he had gone
past 50. With his batting averages
hovering around the mid-20s and
his strike rates hardly catching the
eye, his role in their side was unclear.
There was no great outcry when he
was left out of the side for the first
two T20Is against England, and he
has not played an ODI for a year.
But Powell has spent his life thriving
in spite of adversity. He has never
met his father, who encouraged his
mother Joan to get an abortion then
left her to her own devices when she
refused; she raised him and his sister
in a run-down, two-room house in
Bannister District near Old Harbour
in Jamaica. His mother recalls him
coming home from primary school
with his bat tucked under his arm
and insisting he didn’t need to eat
that night so that his family could
instead. “He told me, ‘mum, I am
going to take you out of poverty with
cricket,’” she recalled.
Powell’s life changed in 2016 when
he was a surprise $40,000 pick by
Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL draft,
with the franchise taking a punt on
a player they thought could emulate
his friend and mentor Andre Russell.
Before long, he had built his mother
a new house, made his international
debut and spent a season at the IPL
with Kolkata Knight Riders, albeit
without making it onto the pitch.
In the years since, Powell has been
a perennial fringe player in West
Indies’ T20I side without nailing
down a place. He has shown
occasional glimpses of his talent
but has often found himself facing
spin – and wrist spin in particular –
early on in his innings, a well-known
weakness that teams have ruthlessly
exploited. He played one of West
Indies’ 17 home T20Is in 2021,
bowled by the left-arm wristspinner
Lakshan Sandakan for 7 against Sri
Lanka in his only innings, and was
never in realistic contention for last
It was in keeping with his strange international career that, having scored his maiden
international hundred against Ireland in the qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup, Powell
was omitted from West Indies’ squad for the tournament itself. He had captained
them in an ODI series against Bangladesh six months before, but his struggles against
spin meant he was left out of the tournament itself.
“I know that I can strike the ball good, but I also have a little bit of a wristspin
problem,” Powell conceded after his hundred on Wednesday night. “Every time I
start my innings they come and bowl wristspin. I went away and for the last six, seven
months I’ve just been working on wristspin and trying to open up the offside.”
It was no surprise that England followed suit during the third T20. Powell came in
during the final over of the powerplay – promoted to No. 4 to break up the lefthanders
in their middle order – with Liam Livingstone bowling his all-sorts spin, and
slog-swept his second ball for six. Adil Rashid immediately came into the attack, but
Powell and Nicholas Pooran were happy to sit in.
He rotated strike cleverly with Pooran in a stand of 122 off 67, targeting the short
boundary but some of his sixes – one was measured at 108 metres, another at 106 –
would have cleared any in the world. When he flicked Reece Topley to square leg to
bring up his hundred, he punched the air with his bat, looked to the sky, kissed the
badge on his helmet and sank to his knees.
It was an innings that contained the best of West Indian T20 cricket: sharp-thinking,
strategy and planning combined with skill, flair and raw power to create a lethal
cocktail – one which left England’s bowlers feeling punch-drunk.
Powell has worked hard on his game against spin, starting at the Abu Dhabi T10 in
November where he finished the tournament as the fifth-highest run-scorer, moving
into a walk-on role in the Lanka Premier League and then
in domestic cricket for Jamaica; Ireland’s backroom
staff were surprised that he was not involved in the
first two matches of this series after seeing how
cleanly he struck the ball in an innings of 82 not
out off 63 balls in a 50-over warm-up against
them.
“I hope it’s a breakthrough international
performance,” he added. “When
I was walking out to bat, I was
confident because for the last five
or so months I’ve been working
hard, I’ve been stroking the
ball good. I think I’m in very,
very good form. I told the
guys I’m sure that I’m hitting
the ball one of the best in the
world at the moment.
If he can come close to
repeating his January 27
performance, he will do
so (CricInfo)
Powell’s Phenomenal Power On Full Display During West Indies Englad T20 Series!
