Holder was one of 12 first-team players to opt-out of the tour, citing health and safety concerns as the primary reasons. The player and others opting out of the tour were roundly criticised in some quarters, with Holder taking the brunt as the leader of the unit.
From his perspective, however, Holder believes he has more than proved his commitment to West Indies cricket over the years.
“A lot of people just don’t understand. I would hate to think people would question my commitment to West Indies cricket,” Holder told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“Over the last five, six, seven years I’ve been on the road. Eight years consistently I’ve played for the West Indies. I’ve had tons of opportunities to go abroad and play domestic, T20 leagues. I could have done county cricket, well I have done it, but I’ve had opportunities to go around the world and I’ve always put West Indies cricket first,” he added.
“So, for people to come now and question my commitment that shows me that people just don’t understand. My reasons for not going to Bangladesh, yes I had concerns over the integrity of the bubble, but it was mostly mental fatigue.”
There was no play on today’s third day because of persistent rain, with England having batted for the majority of the two days prior.
With the West Indies leading the series 1-0, scores in the second Test are England 469-9 declared and the West Indies 32-1.
“I have no sympathy at all. I don't understand why people can't just do what is required,' Holding said during an interview with Sky Sports.
According to the Sky Sports commentator and pundit, the sacrifices the teams have had to make to make the series a reality are relatively small and should not elicit actions such as Archer’s.
Archer, during his trip from Southampton where the first Test was played to Manchester for the second, rerouted to his house before making his way to the venue.
The pacer was forced to miss the Test as he had to self-quarantine and has since been fined by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) ahead of the possibility of playing in the third Test should he test negative for COVID-19.
“Talking about sacrifices - Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in a little cell and he did nothing wrong - that is a sacrifice,” said Holding.
Holding did not have kind words for the ECB either, suggesting they hadn’t thought all the protocols for the series out well enough.
“Why aren't the England team travelling on a bus? If they have already passed the COVID test and everyone is together, they have six matches and are moving from one venue to another, why aren't they just all on a bus?” Holding questioned.
“Why are they allowed to travel by car? People need to just think a bit,” said Holding.
On a warm and calm Saturday night, captain Kieron Pollard had the honour of lifting the Sir Clive Lloyd trophy as his team accomplished the stated mission and showcased their dominance – winning all seven matches.
Simmons made a monumental 146 as the Red Force made a whopping 362-5 off their 50 overs. He hit 15 fours and seven sixes off 145 balls to register the highest score of this year’s tournament, as well as the highest score by a Trinidadian in the 46 years of the event – surpassing the 134 made by Denesh Ramdin in 2013. It was his second century of this year’s tournament and lifted the Trinis to their second-highest score of all time. He was named the CG Insurance Man-of-the-Match.
Such heroics left the Jaguars with a mammoth target and they fell well short, being bowled out for 210 off 43.5 overs. Left-hander Raymon Reifer played brilliantly to end on 97 not out, to follow up his 90 in the semi-final against the Windwards Volcanoes on Thursday night. Fast bowler Ravi Rampaul was again on song with 4-52 off his 10 overs, his second four-for in as many matches, and took him to his 100th List A wicket for Trinidad and Tobago.
Jayden Seales, the 19-year-old pacer brought into the match specifically unsettle the Guyanese, bowled with sustained pace and hostility to end with three wickets – two of which were caught on the leg-side as batsmen attempted hook shots.
Captain Pollard was full of praise for his team and said they were delighted to win all seven matches and take the title.
When Trinidad and Tobago batted, Simmons shared several big partnerships. He added 121 in just 19.1 overs with Evin Lewis (57) and 100 with Darren Bravo (47). After they fell, Simmons shared a third-wicket of 57 in four overs with Nicholas Pooran who entertained with 39 off 15 balls, including four sixes.
In Guyana Jaguars turn at the crease, they were totally blown away by Rampaul and Seales and were tottering at 55-6 at the end of the powerplay. Reifer offered strong rearguard action as he faced 112 balls and hit seven fours and three sixes. He shared a ninth-wicket stand of 71 with Gudakesh Motie (28) which took the score over the 200-mark.
But he was left just short of his maiden century when he exposed last man Nial Smith to a rampaging Seales who cleaned him up with the perfect Yorker, which capped off the perfect match in a perfect campaign.
At the close of play, Barbados Tridents were 44 without loss with openers Kraigg Brathwaite (17) and Sheyne Moseley (25) at the crease. Earlier, in the Pride’s first innings it was Permaul who got the breakthrough after removing Brathwaite for 17, before adding the dangerous Shai Hope and Roston Chase to his tally.
Hope had, however, staged a furious fightback after coming to the crease with his team in trouble at 49 for 3. Hope went on to make 119 from 2oo deliveries, before being caught by Leon Johnson, which ended the Pride’s resistance at 266 all-out. Prior to that Shane Dowrich added an enterprising 44 from 60 and shared in 64 runs partnership with Hope but became Permaul’s third wicket after also being caught by Johnson.
In Guyana’s first innings Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Gudakesh Motie each made a century as the team declared at 490 for 7.
Resuming the score with a comfortable overnight total of 113 for 1, the Sri Lankans were 204 all-out just before lunch. The decision to use left-arm spinners Permaul and Jomel Warrican proved to be a masterstroke that paid rich dividends for the visitors.
Permaul, ended with overall figures of 5 for 35, while Warrican took 4 for 50. With the other wicket going to Roston Chase on the first day, it was only the fourth time the typically pace-dependent Windies saw their spinners claim 10 wickets in an innings.
In response, the West Indies came up with an all-around solid batting display and put 69 for 1 on the board, leaving the visitor trailing by 135 runs. Jermaine Blackwood, who put 44 on the board from 91 balls was the lone casualty before the rains came. Blackwood was dismissed lbw after misjudging a Praveen Jayawickrama arm ball. Kraig Brathwaite was unbeaten on 22 off 77 deliveries, and alongside him was Nkrumah Bonner on 1 at the close of play.
Although an election date is yet to set, Jamaica Cricket Association president (JCA) Wilford Billy Heaven is expected to run unopposed for a fourth two-year team when the annual general meeting is held.
He has successfully held off two challenges, winning by only four votes on the last occasion, but many in the country’s local cricketing circles believe he would still emerge victorious if confronted by any opposition in the 2021 election.
Perry, however, sees the continued re-election of the official and his slate, unchallenged, or being re-elected by big margins as incongruous when juxtaposed against the current state of the game on the island.
“I think we definitely need change. I cannot understand why it is that we have not won anything over the years, we have been last, second to last, we’ve only won one trophy out of 30-odd, and at the end of the day the administration is winning by a landslide,” Perry told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“Something is wrong if people keep voting for persons who are not delivering. I don’t believe you should be there because at the end of the day we need positive results. We need the team to be doing well, we need to produce a lot of Test cricketers and a lot of first-class cricketers,” he added.
“I’m not only saying Billy Heaven should be removed but that the delegates who continue to vote for a particular board need to examine themselves. At the end of the day, if cricket is what you are really there for and you are not getting the results then why is it that you continue to put those persons to lead. You don’t have the cricket at heart, somehow you have some sort of agenda.”
Sabina Park hasn’t hosted international cricket since the West Indies took on Ireland in three ODIs in January last year.
Taking it a step further, the ground hasn’t hosted any regional cricket since 2019. That year was also the last time Sabina Park hosted a Caribbean Premier League (CPL) game.
In an appearance on the Mason & Guest radio show on Tuesday, former Jamaica and West Indies off spinner, Nehemiah Perry, said that while local cricket is being played at the ground from time to time, the lack of international matches is concerning.
“We still have our local cricket and we’re having some Dream 11 T10 games coming up there but the real issue is that there is no international cricket being played at Sabina Park,” Perry said.
“I remember the days gone when we were talking about a Test series coming to the Caribbean, there were some grounds that you knew were going to get games like Sabina Park, Kensington Oval, Queen’s Park Oval etc. For about two years now, we haven’t had any international cricket at Sabina Park. We also haven’t had any regional cricket there for some time now,” he added.
As of late, the ground has been used mainly as a venue for hosting parties as well as football matches. For the last few years, it has served as the host for finals in competitions like the Jamaica Premier League, Manning Cup and ISSA Champions Cup to name a few.
“It has been turned into a place of parties and football. We need income to maintain the field and Kingston Cricket Club because that club is really the owner of Sabina Park and the JCA owns the stands,” he said.
“When you don’t get international cricket, there’s no revenue coming in from the ground because there’s no advertising. Members of the Kingston Cricket Club are leaving because there’s nothing happening at Sabina Park and I’m very concerned,” he added.
With the T20 World Cup coming to the West Indies next year, Senior Manager of Cricket West Indies, Roland Holder, neither confirmed nor denied whether or not Jamaica have made a bid to host any matches at the tournament.
He did, however, say that “every venue is under consideration.”
“I believe the bids are all in and a determination is being made as we speak as to who gets what and the various packages etc. I’m not intimately involved in the World Cup so I can’t say too much about it, apart from that it’s next year,” Holder said.
If confirmed, it could mean a second consecutive challenge for incumbent Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven. Heaven easily saw off opposition from former vice-president Mark Neita in 2019 to secure a third two-year term.
While insisting that, at this point, a decision had yet to be made, Perry admitted that he was far from pleased with the current state of cricket on the island of Jamaica and it was an option he was strongly considering.
“It could be a possibility. I’m not confirming that but I’m still giving it some thought. It’s a lot that you have to give up,” Perry, who recently became president of Jamaica Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (JAIFA), told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“I strongly believe that we need some very good leadership and we need some serious work to bring back our cricket. Our cricket is in a desperate situation and I think that management and leadership, we have to start from there to get everything streamlined so that the pathway is very clear,” he added.
Heaven has been president of the JCA since 2013 when then-president Lyndel Wright did not seek re-election. Of interest, however, is the fact that Heaven’s upcoming re-election bid will be the first since the JCA is believed to have voted against fellow Jamaican Dave Cameron in his re-election bid for Cricket West Indies (CWI) president. The move was widely condemned in some quarters of Jamaica’s local cricket fraternity.
The Sri Lankans resumed play at 136 for 3 but the promising partnership of Dinesh Chandimal (44) and Dhanajaya De Silva (39) was halted in its tracks during the morning session. Chandimal was tempted into an attempted hook shot by Shannon Gabriel and caught at deep square leg.
De Silva was given lbw on a delivery from part-timer Jermaine Blackwood, which seemed to be turning away from the stumps. The decision was, however, not appealed.
The rain repeatedly interrupted play after lunch but there was still time for all-rounder Jason Holder to account for Niroshan Dickwella (21), who was caught behind from an inside edge. Suranga Lakmal did not stick around long as he lasted for 9 deliveries before being caught at mid-on by Kraigg Brathwaite off Alzarri Joseph. Dushmantha Chameera became the eighth wicket to fall, after tea, when he was caught by Joshua Da Silva off Holder but Nissanka dug into to reach to within one of a half-century and will resume tomorrow with Lasith Embuldeniya, who is scoreless.
The rain meant that, overall, only 42 over of play were possible at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
The hosts put on a six-hitting masterclass, as they cleared the rope 16 times and collected 79 runs in the last four overs, but they were upstaged as Salt underpinned England’s successful chase in Grenada.
On a hot and humid day, Salt belted half of England’s 18 sixes – a ground record in this format – as he recorded 109 not out off 56 deliveries, before Brook completed the seven-wicket win with a ball to spare.
Salt’s efforts left England needing 21 off the final over, and Brook followed up a four with three sixes in four balls off Andre Russell as the tourists narrowed the deficit to 2-1 in the five-match series.
Jos Buttler made 51 in a 115-run opening stand with Salt, who became just the fifth male from his country to record a T20 international hundred, while Liam Livingstone contributed a breezy 30 as England equalled their joint second highest chase in this format.
Scores: West Indies 222-6 (20 overs); England 226-3 (19.5 overs)
Earlier, Nicholas Pooran cracked six sixes and as many fours in a brilliant 82 off 45 balls to lead West Indies to what initially seemed a daunting total.
Holding a 2-0 lead at that point, the Windies were full of confidence and cleared the rope on 16 occasions, taking their tally across the three matches to 43 sixes.
Captain Rovman Powell belted 39 off 21 deliveries, while Sherfane Rutherford marked his first appearance of the series with 29 off 17.
Not even Adil Rashid was exempt from the carnage as he leaked 15 in his final offering, albeit having Pooran caught in the deep to finish with two for 32.
Reece Topley was magnificent up top in his first match back since a broken finger ended his World Cup early, taking one for 14 in three overs in the powerplay but he conceded 18 after being given the 20th.
Topley and Gus Atkinson were given their first outings as England shuffled their bowlers, with Chris Woakes and Rehan Ahmed left out, but it was a mixed bag from the tourists after winning the toss.
Rashid, Topley and Moeen Ali escaped most of the damage, but Tymal Mills went for 25 in the 17th over and Sam Curran 21 in the 19th – although he did claim a couple of wickets two days on from being belted for 30 in five legal deliveries.
Pooran steadied the Windies, after they lost both openers by the second over, then upped the ante after reaching a 37-ball fifty, taking 29 off his next eight deliveries before holing out off Rashid.
While England team-mates Chris Woakes and Harry Brook saw their bank balances given a healthy top-up after going under the hammer in Dubai on Tuesday, there were no takers for Salt among IPL franchises.
Salt made a couple of fifties in his debut season earlier this year, striking at 163.91 in nine matches for Delhi Capitals, so he was aggrieved to wake up in the Caribbean and find he had attracted no bids.
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But three days on from a match-winning century in Grenada, Salt thumped an England T20 record 119 off 57 balls in Trinidad as the tourists set up a winner-takes-all showdown at the same venue on Thursday.
“It was a confusing morning,” Salt said after England’s 75-run thumping win in the fourth T20. “I expected to be picked up, having gone there last year and done well and after the year that I’ve had.
“I was a bit confused but it can happen. It’s part of a lottery of an auction, it happens in draft processes as well. There’s no bad cricketers on the list at the IPL.
“There’s a few lads in our dressing room who are going to have a very good Christmas and I’m over the moon for them.
“We’re very lucky with what we do. There have been a few things recently that have maybe put it in perspective. I’m just here enjoying my cricket and cracking on.”
As for whether he channelled his frustration at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba to underpin England’s highest ever T20 total of 267 for three, Salt admitted his IPL omission may have played its part.
“It was probably a little bit of it, subconsciously,” he said, before reiterating: “I’m very aware of how lucky I am to be here playing cricket.”
The foundations for England’s gargantuan total were laid by a second successive century partnership between Salt and Jos Buttler, who contributed 55 to a 117-run stand in 9.5 overs before holing out.
Liam Livingstone thumped the last of England’s 20 sixes – equalling their record in T20s – with half of them coming from Salt, who is the first man from the country to make more than one ton in the format.
Salt opens the batting for Lancashire in the Vitality Blast and for Manchester Originals in The Hundred alongside England captain Buttler, who apparently keeps his junior partner in check.
“When we’re in the middle, it’s more getting me back in my box,” Salt said. “It’s either ‘you’re doing really well’ or ‘drop it down a gear’.
“We’ve had some good conversations away from the game, we’ve enjoyed spending time around each other as a group so we’re going nicely.”
The Windies were left with not much choice but to hit the ground running from ball one and while they themselves collected 14 sixes of their own, they were all out for 192 in 15.3 overs.
Reece Topley claimed three for 37 while there were a couple of wickets apiece for Sam Curran and Rehan Ahmed and one each for Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid as England levelled the series at 2-2.
“The boys have really pulled together and shown what a good team we are,” Salt added. “To win back-to-back games and force the decider in a couple of days’ time, I’m chuffed.”
Having been overlooked at the Indian Premier League auction on Tuesday, Salt smashed 10 sixes and seven fours in his 119 off 57 balls at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba in England’s 267 for three.
Salt’s belligerent knock is the highest by an England batter – beating the previous record held by Alex Hales on 116 – as the tourists took a giant stride towards levelling the five-match series at 2-2.
England’s previous best score in this format was the 241 for three they posted against New Zealand in Napier in November 2019 but Jos Buttler’s side blew that total out of the water.
Buttler registered 55 off 29 balls, putting on 117 in 9.5 overs with Salt, while Liam Livingstone added an unbeaten 54 off 21 deliveries as England racked up the fifth highest score in this format.
Four days on from his 109 not out at the weekend which helped England keep the series alive, Salt transferred his form to another Caribbean island, bringing up back-to-back tons off 48 balls.
There was no respite for the Windies on a hot and sticky afternoon, with T20 debutant Matthew Forde leaking 54 from three overs and Jason Holder and Gudakesh Motie each conceding 55 from four overs.
Akeal Hosein was the pick of the attack with one for 36 from his allocation but the hosts have been left it all to do to stop the series from going to a decider – no team has chased down more than 259.
In nine Tests, the 23-year-old Trinidadian has scored 372 runs at an average of 23.25 and has two half-centuries to his credit. He made his debut against New Zealand in Wellington in December 2020, making 57 in the West Indies second innings.
Scores of 42, 20, 92 and 20 followed against Bangladesh in February this year as well as 46 against Sri Lanka in March.
The 42 was made in the first innings of the first Test at Chattogram during a 99-run sixth-wicket stand with Jermaine Blackwood and his second innings 20 was made in a 100-run sixth-wicket stand with Man of the Match Kyle Mayers.
In the second Test at Dhaka, Da Silva made 92 and featured in a sixth-wicket partnership of 88 with Nkrumah Bonner which was followed by a seventh-wicket partnership of 118 with Alzarri Joseph, notwithstanding that latter’s contribution of 71 as the West Indies secured a 2-0 series win.
Since that time, Da Silva’s form has dipped significantly.
He had scores of 1 and 20 in the second Test against Sri Lanka in March and followed in June with a disastrous series against South Africa against which he had scores of 0, 9, 7 and 0 and then 21, 13, 6 and 15 against Pakistan in August.
However, his form away has been more encouraging averaging 39 while his home average is just under 14.
Asked during a recent press conference, asked whether he was concerned about the form of his wicketkeeper, who has played major roles in match-winning partnerships in Bangladesh earlier this year, Simmons said the good news is that Da Silva seems to bat better away than at home.
“A dip like that is always a concern but his away form is a lot better than his home form so we hope that that is not a coincidence and that that is a strength of his, so we are away now and hopefully he lives up to how he started the year. Hopefully, he finishes the year like that,” Simmons said.
Brathwaite, meanwhile, believes Da Silva would see a return to form with the right type of support from the team's leadership.
“He has been doing a superb job in times before with some very important partnerships. One of the keys to situations like this, for me, is making sure you have good communication with him, just let him know that he can do it, it’s as simple as that and for him to believe in himself,” Brathwaite said.
“I know he is fully capable of doing well. Obviously, we all go through little slumps. We all still learning as players but I think he has been putting in some good work and we look forward to him doing well.”
The first Test begins at the Galle International Stadium on November 21.
In a rematch of the 2016 T20 World Cup final when the West Indies emerged victoriously, England bowled the defending champions out for 55 with Chris Gayle top-scoring with 13. England’s spinners took six of the 10 wickets to fall before their batters achieved the winning target in 8.2 overs.
The West Indies were unable to build partnerships and were missing the role of an anchor that Chase demonstrated while scoring an unbeaten 54 in the West Indies’ final warm-up match against Afghanistan. Playing anchor was something demonstrated he could do well during the 2021 Hero CPL season when he was the top scorer with 446 runs at an incredible average of 49.55.
When England batted, Akeal Hosein, the only spinner selected, was the best of the bowlers with 2-24.
Chase, a more than useful bowler, would have also given the West Indies another bowling option as a spinner in the match where spinners took eight of the 14 wickets to fall, the best of them being England’s Adil Rashid, who boasted ridiculous figures of four wickets for two runs from his four overs.
Still, Coach Simmons speaking with the media on Sunday, insisted that the team they selected was the right one for the conditions.
“I don’t think we misread the pitch. Yes, the spinners got some wickets but as you go along you have seen that the pitch was a good pitch,” he said during a media conference from Dubai on Sunday where the West Indies are preparing to face South Africa on Tuesday.
“You have to try and make the most of the first six or seven overs and then you have to fight until you get to the latter part. I think when you assess the pitch, you assess the squad we thought that the 11 that went into the game was the right squad.
“Yes, Chase got some runs in the game before but when were at the ground we assessed and we thought it was the right combination.”
His greatest achievements as a player came while playing league cricket in England.
One season, playing for Leicestershire, he scored 1244 runs and took 56 wickets. In that season, Simmons was said to have been bowling very quickly, a change from his generally medium-paced efforts.
But before those exploits, Simmons, who played in England during the 1980s and ‘90s, said while playing in the Northeast of the country, he faced quite a bit of racial abuse.
"It's not a nice thing to face. Especially in the leagues where you're by yourself sometimes. It affected my wife when I was up there. It's not a nice thing.
"I played in three or four different leagues. It was one particular league up in the northeast."
Simmons was speaking before the West Indies revealed it will be using a Black Lives Matter logo created by partner of Watford City football club captain, Troy Deeney, Alisha Hosannah.
At the time, Simmons was as yet unsure about how the West Indies would show its unity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
The West Indies are in England for the #RaisyourBat series for the Wisden Trophy.
The three-Test series begins July 8 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton with two other games scheduled for Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester.
Promoted to open, Nkrumah Bonner steered Sheldon Cottrell for four and drove Ish Sodhi for the game’s first Hero Maximum, but in trying to pick up a second off Imran Khan he chipped to Cottrell at long-on. The Tallwahs reached the Powerplay at 28 for 1.
Jermaine Blackwood got off the mark with a Hero Maximum off Sodhi, but Imran continued to be hard to hit. Patriots captain Rayad Emrit brought himself on, going for seven, and at halfway the Tallawahs were 53 for 1.
The first ball after the break, Blackwood carved Cottrell for four. Phillips ended that over with his first four off his 24th ball, but the Tallawahs lost Blackwood when he picked out Dunk at long-off off Emrit.
Phillips finally hit his first Hero Maximum off his 28th ball, lofting Jon-Russ Jaggesar over long-on, but should have fallen two balls later, Nick Kelly spilling a simple chance. Imran tightened the screw, finishing his miserly spell (the most economical completed spell of Hero CPL 2020) with a maiden to Phillips who was now 28 off 36 balls. After 14 overs, the Tallawahs were 79 for 2.
Asif Ali tried to pick up the pace, lofting the last ball of Jaggesar’s spell for a Hero Maximum but fell in the next over, Sodhi’s last, trying to repeat the trick. Evin Lewis must get credit for a well-judged catch on the midwicket boundary.
Phillips, at last, clicked, passing a run a ball off his 46th delivery and reaching 50 off his 47th with three Hero Maximums off Cottrell. While he managed another Hero Maximum off Emrit, the Patriots captain dismissed Rovman Powell and Carlos Brathwaite in quick succession and the Tallawahs reached 18 overs at 126 for 5.
Cottrell started the 19th over with three full tosses, the first a beamer, but finished by bowling the struggling Chadwick Walton. Phillips kept going to the end, levering a low full toss over long-on for a sixth Hero Maximum and whipping a four through square leg. Phillips’ acceleration was stark - he scored 38 off his first 44 balls and 41 off his last 17, and at the end, he was visibly drained, so much so Walton took over as wicket-keeper.
The Patriots too changed their openers, a groin injury to Lewis meaning Kieran Powell came up the order. While Chris Lynn opened his account with a Hero Maximum off Fidel Edwards, Edwards got revenge next ball with a late outswinger that hit middle stump.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Veerasammy Permaul bowled two overs apiece and conceded just one boundary, with Kieran Powell dropped by Asif off Mujeeb. The new opener cashed in with a lovely lofted four off Edwards. The Patriots closed the first six at 39 for 1.
The Patriots stumbled further when Ramdin edged a cut to keeper Walton off Permaul. Ben Dunk was bowled fourth ball by Brathwaite as part of a wicket-maiden, and Kieran Powell in trying to break free off Permaul gave Walton a stumping with time to spare. Between the Powerplay and the drinks break, the Patriots faced 20 balls and lost 3 for 6.
That stumping was Walton’s last act behind the stumps, as a recovered Phillips resumed his duties after drinks. After 10 overs, the Patriots were becalmed at 47for 4 with Lewis injured, and with two overs of Mujeeb and four overs of Sandeep Lamichhane still to come.
Emrit got his team their first boundary in 30 balls, but he fell two balls later leading-edging Brathwaite to point. Lewis could be delayed no longer, which in turn brought Lamichhane into the attack. Kelly swept for four, but still, the over went for just six, and after 13 overs the required run rate had climbed to 11 an over.
Rovman Powell brought back Mujeeb who went for just four. Lewis and Kelly managed a brief flurry of boundaries off Lamichhane and Edwards, but Edwards had the last laugh as Kelly dragged a pull onto his own stumps.
The Tallawahs’ elite spinners would be denied no longer. Lamichhane’s seam-up variation saw the valiant Lewis hole out to long-on, Mujeeb grabbed a simple caught and bowled off Cottrell, and Lamichhane bowled Sodhi with a googly. The game was already lost when the final wicket fell, Brathwaite picking up a third as some compensation for his duck today and his mauling by the Tridents’ Kyle Mayers on Wednesday.
Winning without the injured Andre Russell, who is expected to be fit for Tuesday’s game against the Trinbago Knight Riders, will please the Tallawahs camp no end, but the struggles continue for the Patriots who have left themselves with a lot to do in the last group matches of Hero CPL 2020.
The Royals won the toss and opted to bat first and Glenn Phillips ensured that they put a competitive total on the board with an unbeaten 56 from 46 balls.
In reply, the Tallawahs chase was over before it really began as they lost four wickets in the PowerPlay and as a result never kept pace with the run rate.
The Royals opted to make a change to their opening pair – with Shai Hope partnering with Johnson Charles and it appeared to work with them putting on a 32-run partnership from 20 balls.
However, once Hope was dismissed it sparked a flurry of wickets that left Barbados teetering at 48 for 3 at the end of PowerPlay. It should have been even worse but Haider Ali dropped Glenn Phillips when he was on 2 runs.
Phillips punished that mistake in the back end of the Barbados innings hitting a half-century with 56 runs from 46 balls and he was ably assisted by Raymon Reifer as they put on a partnership worth 79 runs.
161 always looked like 15 runs too many and the Tallawahs got their chase off to the worst possible start losing four wickets inside the PowerPlay.
Some good bowling and electric fielding by Hayden Walsh Jr had the Tallawahs on the back foot throughout.
Carlos Braithwaite and Shamarh Brooks threatened to bring them back into the game with a 66-run partnership but a double strike from Reifer got rid of Braithwaite and Andre Russell in the same over.
Despite some late blows from Miguel Pretorius that made the last few overs interesting there was always too much for the Tallawahs to do once Russell had departed.
The home side took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series following their win in the final over on Friday night at Eden Park in Auckland. The third and final match will be at Bay Oval on Monday night (2am East Caribbean/1am Jamaica).
Phillips was an automatic choice fo the Man-of-the-Match award as the struck a superb maiden century to pilot New Zealand to a massive total. His career-best knock came off just 51 balls with 10 boundaries and eight sixes before he was caught by substitute Hayden Walsh Jr off skipper Kieron Pollard in the final over.
Left-hander Devon Conway also batted well to end on 65 not out off 37 balls with four fours and four sixes. He helped Phillips add 185 for the third wicket which took the game away from the West Indies.
Asked to score at just under 12 runs per over to win, West Indies never got their momentum going and lost wickets at regular intervals — five batsman scored 20 or more but none reached 30.
Kieron Pollard blasted three huge sixes in an over from Mitch Santner, but the left-arm spinner got his revenge as Pollard fell in that same over — caught on the straight boundary behind the bowler. The skipper top-scored for the second match in a row while Keemo Paul also launched three sixes in a cameo knock at the end.
(Match scores: New Zealand 238-3 off 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 108, Devon Conway 65 not out, Martin Guptill 34). West Indies 166-9 off 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 28, Keemo Paul 26 not out, Shimron Hetmyer 25, Andre Fletcher 20, Kyle Mayers 20; Kyle Jamieson 2-15, Mitchell Santner 2-41)
“It’s very disheartening to see our batsmen continue to struggle against spin,” said Wallace on the Mason & Guest radio show in Barbados on Tuesday.
The West Indies suffered an embarrassing 0-3 series defeat against Bangladesh last week at Providence in Guyana, a surface known to favor spin bowling.
“They have to find a method of how to play slow bowling. I find it very uncomfortable that our batsmen don’t seem to understand how to play on that type of surface,” said Wallace, who played seven Tests and 33 ODIs from 1997-2000.
The inability to play spin meant that the hosts were unable to bat out the full 50 overs in any of the matches, something Wallace said is not acceptable.
“You can’t consistently get bowled out inside 50 overs. When you find yourself three or four wickets down inside the first 20 overs, you’re going to struggle. They’re not getting the starts from the openers. The middle order is struggling and leaving it to some sluggers at the bottom,” he said.
When questioned about a solution to the problem, Wallace pointed to something that has been an issue for the West Indies in limited overs cricket for more than a decade, rotation of the strike.
“You have to be fit and you’ve got to work around the ball and know your partner at the other end. When you get your ones and twos up front, it will make it easier for the guys at the back end,” Wallace said.
He further emphasized his point by highlighting an innings played by South African Rassie van der Dussen against England on Tuesday where he scored 134 off 117 balls hitting only 10 fours and no sixes. South Africa hit no sixes in their innings and were able to score 333-5 from their 50 overs before bowling England out for 271.
Wallace, speaking on the Mason & Guest radio show Barbados on Tuesday, said the process of transformation should begin with rallying around Nicholas Pooran and Shai Hope, the stand-in captains for the upcoming limited-overs tour of Pakistan.
Pooran has been selected to captain the T20 side while Hope will captain the ODI team after the regular white-ball captain, Kieron Pollard, was ruled out of the tour with injury.
“I hope that something good can come out of Pakistan. Our captain Pollard is not going. The selectors have decided that they’re going to try two young men. We want them to rally around these young men,” said Wallace.
The former Barbados and West Indies opening batsman also reiterated that the future has to be the focus for West Indies cricket to progress.
“We have to start looking at our future in cricket. If we don’t, we’re going to forget the future and keep looking at our past. We have to aim our structure going forward. I know a lot of former cricketers don’t speak about it but I know they’re hurt,” he said.
At the end of the day, all cricket lovers in the Caribbean want the same thing, according to Wallace.
“We all have the same desire to see this great West Indies cricket product rise again but it can only rise if we in the Caribbean help lift it. Those who have ideas, come forward. There’s no secret about it, we’re struggling,” Wallace said.
