Follow UsSherfane Rutherford isn’t the first name that comes to mind when you talk about West Indies’ star-studded T20I unit. He isn’t as charismatic and popular as Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell or Shimron Hetmyer. The 25-year-old is not someone who gets paid the big bucks in franchise cricket, but is always around because of the role he plays.
If you look at West Indies’ current set of players who are playing in the 2024 T20 World Cup, it’s very easy to miss Rutherford. He didn’t do anything in West Indies’ first two wins against Papua New Guinea and Uganda, registering scores of 2 and 22 respectively. To be honest, the hosts didn’t really need his services in those two games.
However, when the West Indies were in deep trouble against New Zealand on June 12 (Wednesday), Rutherford stepped up and made his presence felt at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad. On a two-paced Tarouba surface, the home team were reduced to 76/7 inside 13 overs but that’s when Rutherford smashed his highest T20I score - 68* off 39 - and single-handedly took his team to an above-par total of 149/9.
Rutherford, who made his T20I debut in 2018, had played just nine 20-over games for the West Indies before December 2023. He was a regular member of the West Indies T20I set-up but wasn’t getting enough game time, which finally changed in the three-match home series against the defending champions England in the last month of 2023.
29 off 17, 36 off 15 and 30 off 24 - Rutherford played those impactful knocks batting in the middle and lower middle-order but his spot in the XI was far from fixed, especially with Shimron Hetmyer being around. “I sleep with that [T20 World Cup spot] on my mind, it keeps repeating itself in my head every day. That is one of my biggest motivations,” he said on the Vipers Voices podcast while he was playing in the International League T20 earlier this year.
Rutherford averaged just 17.5 in the competition, so he knew he had to do something special in the T20I series in Australia in February to keep himself in the hunt for the 20-over showpiece event. That special knock came in the third and final T20I at Perth, with his team 79/5 before the end of nine overs. Rutherford smoked 67* off 40 and put on 139 runs for the sixth wicket with Russell. That was the last T20I Rutherford played before the World Cup.
He then travelled to India for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), where he was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ set-up. The Men in Purple won the tournament but Rutherford didn’t get a single game. The left-hander, however, smacked 47* off 18 in the warm-up fixture against Australia and that probably helped him start ahead of Hetmyer in the game against PNG.
His 22 against Uganda went unnoticed and many were arguing for Hetmyer to start over Rutherford in the West Indies’ third fixture against New Zealand. Howbeit, the West Indies management would be glad they decided to trust Rutherford and kept him in the team. The surface was tough for batting and the New Zealand bowlers made the most of it.
Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson struck in the powerplay and reduced the two-time champions to 23/4 by the end of the first six. Brandon King, Akeal Hosein and Russell stuck around for a while but even they were back in the hut before the end of 13 overs, leaving West Indies reeling at 76/7.
Rutherford, who had walked out to bat in the last over of the powerplay, was on run-a-ball 15 at that stage. Unlike the aforementioned three West Indies batters, Rutherford refrained from taking any risks in the initial phase of his innings. By the end of 15 overs, he was on 20 off 21 and had hit just one boundary - a six off Mitchell Santner in the 11th over.
Boult, Southee, Ferguson and James Neesham were using the surface well and Rutherford knew he couldn’t go after any of them. Meanwhile, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson understandably took the risk of finishing their overs early in search of dismissing the West Indies out. The aforementioned four bowlers were done by the end of 18 overs and Rutherford was on 31 off 27 at that stage.
He was well aware of the fact that the Blackcaps will have to use Daryl Mitchell and Santner in the last two overs and that’s when he said ‘it’s my time now’. Rutherford first smashed Mitchell for three maximums and collected 19 runs from the penultimate over. In the process, he also brought up his second T20I fifty.
Then came Santner to bowl the final over and Rutherford whacked him for two fours and a six, getting 18 from the final over. Thanks to Rutherford, the Men in Maroon scored 37 runs in the last two overs and all of those runs came off the left-hander’s bat. Rutherford showed everyone how to operate on a tricky surface and got his team to a good score.
He also broke a couple of records in the process. Rutherford’s 68* is now the second-highest score for a batter from No. 6 or below in the T20 World Cups after Cameron White’s 85* against Sri Lanka in 2010. Overall in T20Is for the West Indies, it’s the third highest for a batter batting at No. 6 or below. The West Indies also registered the highest total by a team that lost their first five wickets for 30 or fewer runs.
"I want to thank God for the opportunity. I was in the IPL for two months, so I was preparing, even though I was not playing. I did a lot of work and did my planning. Keeping it simple and backing my skill - I think that was the key. Was telling whoever came out to bat, that even small contributions count," said Rutherford, who slammed two fours and six maximums.
"I was just telling myself to take it deep. Me and Sammy [head coach] had a talk and I knew if we got momentum, I could make it up in the end. Looking at their bowling line-up, I knew they were short of two overs. I knew they had to make up those overs and I wanted to maximise it."
Once the West Indies had close to 150 runs on the board, they knew it wouldn’t be easy for the Blackcaps to chase it down and that’s exactly what happened. New Zealand fell short by 13 runs, which could have been more if not for Santner's three sixes in the last over. The West Indies are through to the Super 8s and it wouldn't have been possible without Rutherford.
Rutherford is also not your typical Caribbean batter or a finisher who will throw his bat at everything. The left-hander is instead someone who knows how to play situations and which bowlers to target and whom not to. Rutherford might not be a household name around the globe but opponents will now slowly start putting respect on his name. And the West Indies, they now know how important he is to their cause.
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