'It's disgraceful and sad': ICC fumed at over empty stands in West Indies' T20 World Cup opener vs PNG at home

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After the USA's impressive win against Canada in the 2024 T20 World Cup opener at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Saturday, co-hosts West Indies kicked off the Caribbean leg of the tournament on Sunday as they hosted Papua New Guinea at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. However, the lack of spectators and empty stands at the venue left fans on social media fuming as they lashed out at the ICC.

Despite a decent turnout at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, as New York hosted international cricket for the first time, albeit with India playing a warm-up game against Bangladesh, West Indies, the two-time champions of the T20 World Cup, were welcomed by a sparse crowd in Guyana.

Amid the low turnout at the venue, ICC was severely criticised, with fans on social media highlighting that the increased ticket price could be the reason behind home crowd showing less interest.

West Indies survived a scare in their T20 World Cup opener after PNG gave them a proper run for their money, and almost gave them jitters with the asking rate touching 12 with half the side gone in the chase. But Roston Chase and Andre Russell held their nerves and produced some big blows to script a five-wicket win.

In the first innings, PNG had a disastrous start, losing two wickets early on and then slipping to 34 for three. However, Sese Bau's half-century knock and the valuable contributions from Vala and Kiplin Doriga turned the tide in their favour, helping them post a respectable total of 136 for eight in 20 overs.

On a tricky two-paced track, PNG bowlers responded superbly. The seamers got early help while the ball was gripping and holding, making run-scoring way too difficult for the West Indies batter. The home team, at one point, were reduced to 97 for five in 16 overs, leaving the equation to 40 runs needed from the final four overs.

Chase then changed the momentum along with Russell as they wrapped up the match with an over to spare.