Who is West Indies opener Alick Athanaze? Decoding his journey
Young West Indies opener Alick Athanaze scored a fine fifty in the ODI series opener against England as his side chased down 326. The southpaw went after the bowlers from the outset and made great utilization of the powerplay overs. He ended up scoring 66 off 65 balls, a knock studded with nine boundaries and a couple of sixes. Let us decode his profile.
A stunning knock from Athanaze
Chasing the challenging target in Antigua, WI were off to a flying start as Athanaze and Brandon King (35) added 104 runs for the opening wicket. Athanaze was the aggressor in the partnership as he did not let the likes of Sam Curran and Brydon Carse settle down. His efforts turned out to be fruitful as WI won by four wickets.
Who is Alick Athanaze?
Athanaze burst onto the scenes in the 2018 ICC Under-19 World Cup, where he finished as the highest run-getter. He garnered 418 runs in six outings with his average and strike rate being 104.50 and 95.87, respectively. The tally includes two tons and as many fifties. The batter had to wait over five years to earn his maiden international cap.
Joint-fastest fifty on ODI debut
Earlier this year, Athanaze slammed the joint-fastest half-century on ODI debut, off just 26 balls. The West Indies batting sensation accomplished the milestone against the United Arab Emirates in June. The dasher ended up scoring 65 off 45 balls in that game. Meanwhile, Athanaze equaled Indian all-rounder Krunal Pandya's record of the fastest fifty on ODI debut.
Here are his List-A numbers
This was Athanaze's second ODI fifty as he has now raced to 191 runs across five games at 38.20 (SR: 102.13), Coming to his List A record, Athanaze has scored 1,131 runs in 43 games at an average of 29. The tally includes a couple of centuries and six half-centuries. Athanaze has also played a couple of Test matches, accumulating 112 runs at 37.33.
