Why block when you can blast?

He has hit three sixes and 17 fours so far in the tournament. Of the 113 runs he has scored...

He has hit three sixes and 17 fours so far in the tournament. Of the 113 runs he has scored in the two games he played so far here, he needed to run between the wickets for only 27.

Like Chris Gayle in the initial part of the World Cup last year, he is another left-handed West Indian opener who has created a buzz. But 17-year-old Kieran Powell is a bundle of contradictions since he insists that, though he loves playing over the in-field, his favourite stroke is the carpet cover drive.

So, as the West Indies meet India in a must-win game tomorrow, an interesting duel is on the cards. Powell will have to face his toughest test so far as he will be up against the tournament8217;s most impressive bowler 8212; India8217;s left-arm pacer Pradeep Sangwan. Precise swing of the ball will take on the brutal force of bat at Kinrara Oval.

With South Africa8217;s big win over Papua New Guinea making things difficult for the West Indies, one asks Powell if restraint is on his mind. He gives a bored look of someone who has heard such words several times.

8220;This is my natural style and this is how I play my cricket,8221; he says. Not just coaches, even his mother had tried telling him this. As an eight-year-old while playing in his front yard, he had dented the family car. Several bowlers on the St. Nevis junior circuit switched sports after bowling to him and he started his first 8216;big8217; game 8212; Stanford Twenty20 8212; with a pull that landed in row J. He admits several coaches have tried telling him to play less strokes but things haven8217;t worked out so far. 8220;Actually, my main aim at this World Cup is to be patient,8221; he says. 8220;You would be surprised to know my cricketing hero is Shivnarine Chanderpaul.8221;

Ask the super-confident Indian players how will they deal with him, and they don8217;t seem too worried. 8220;We have seen his videos. He gets beaten outside the off stump too many times,8221; says one. Whatever happens, it will be quite a contest.

8216;Catch8217; it on TV!

Only a die-hard cricket fan who would have tuned in to watch South Africa play PNG. And that means only a few would have caught the most spectacular cricketing sight in recent times. South Africa8217;s Sybrand Engelbrecht at gully took a catch which many at the Kinara Oval thought would rank alongside the best efforts of Jonty Rhodes.

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PNG8217;s Alfred Amini8217;s powerful strike went flying meters away from gully, but Engelbrecht flew diagonally, changed direction midair and got both his hands to the ball. Over to Engelbrecht: 8220;My body position was perfect and I went up full length. I couldn8217;t believe that I had caught it. Still can8217;t get it, what8217;s the fuss about?8221; Try catching a replay of the game on television and you will understand.