The day-night match in East London was in doubt once the toss was delayed, and conditions showed little sign of significant improvement.
Although rain briefly abated, showers soon returned and the contest was called off.
The second leg of the three-match series is due to be played at the same ground on Saturday.
Despite Gayle's team not making the playoffs, few would argue with Lara’s choice. The 41-year-old began the season looking on from the bench for Kings XI as the team struggled to a 1 and 7 start. The results meant they were rooted to the bottom of the table with little hope of advancing to the play-offs.
Gayle’s introduction saw the team embark on a five-game winning streak and finding themselves just outside the top four. Perhaps the highlight of the tournament individually for Gayle came with a whirlwind 99 against Rajasthan Royals. The batsman was dismissed on 99 by England bowler Jofra Archer but prior to that made history as the first player to club 1000 T20 sixes. Despite just missing out on the play-offs, Lara believes Gayle deserved special commendation for rallying Kings XI and in the process entertaining the fans.
“I think the Universe Boss – Chris Gayle. The reason being that if there were 50-60 thousand people watching, it was more when he arrived in the tournament at the second half,” Lara told Star Sports’ Cricket Live
“His performances and how he got Kings XI Punjab going and almost getting there. I think it’s just been amazing watching him and the turnaround of Kings XI Punjab.”
Clarke revealed that had shed tears seeing his son lead the West Indies to victory.
“This morning was very special for me. It brought tears to my eyes,” said Clarke in a specially arranged Zoom between father and son that was arranged by CWI.
“I just want to wish you continued success to you and the rest of the team. Continue to work hard. We will stay connected as usual."
In response, Mayers thanked his father who played a dozen first-class matches and five List-A games for Barbados and Combined Campuses and Colleges between 1999 and 2008 and is now a Level-3 coach.
"You know how hard I was working when I was preparing for this tour in Barbados. You know how I felt about this opportunity. I just want to give you thanks for the help, coaching and making sure I was prepared for this series," Mayers said.
Mayers revealed that he is always in touch with his dad, discussing personal and technical matters. The West Indies hero said he considered himself fortunate to have a coach at home during the pandemic.
In the end, the West Indies triumphed in an 18-run win in St Lucia on Friday but at one point seemed headed for a certain defeat. On the back of a century from Mitchell Marsh, the Australians had put 70 for the loss of three wickets on the board, at the end of the power play.
However, Walsh Jr combined with the man of the match Obed McCoy and the spinners decimated the Australia line-up as the visitors lost their last six wickets for 19 runs. Walsh Jr accounted for Marsh in his haul of 3 for 23, while McCoy ended with 4 for 26.
“We just kept believing and we just kept thinking we were always in the game. We were picking up wickets all the time so with us picking up wickets we just felt we were always in the game,” Walsh said following the match.
“When I came on to bowl, the way that I bowled I just had the feeling that these guys were going to have trouble playing me and getting the ball off the square and hitting boundaries,” he added.
The spinner was returning to the squad for the first time since November of last year.
Those were the words of Captain Kraigg Brathwaite after the West Indies humiliating 158-run defeat to South Africa inside four days at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium in St Lucia on Monday.
The West Indies, resuming from their overnight score of 15 without loss in pursuit of 324, were bundled out for 165 thanks mainly to the bowling of left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who took 5-36, including a hat-trick that saw the home side slide from 104-3 to 104-6.
Kagiso Rabada was also among the wickets, taking 3-44 as the West Indies batting one man short, fell for 165.
Kieran Powell, who scored 51, Kyle Mayers 34 and Kemar Roach and Jermaine Blackwood, who scored 27 and 25, respectively got into double figures.
Brathwaite, who made scores of 0 and 6, laid the blame squarely at the feet of the batsmen, himself included, for the poor performance of the team who did not score more than 170 runs in any of their four innings. The batting was especially embarrassing coming off much better performances against Bangladesh in Bangladesh and the home series against Sri Lanka earlier this year.
In the first Test, the West Indies had scores of 97 and 162 and followed those weak scores with 149 and 165 in the second Test capitulation. Confronted with that reality in the post-match media conference, the disappointed captain could not hide from the truth.
“As batsmen, we know we went wrong. We didn’t bat well,” said Brathwaite, who revealed that they had planned to bat better and having consistent partnerships during the series against the South African bowling attack but said they have to come back better for the next series.
“We are very sorry. Obviously, the fans look forward to the West Indies doing well and we were disappointing,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s not about winning but you still want to see the fight and we didn’t show the fans that fight. Myself included, we have to come back better and make the fans proud.”
The move to insert the batsman so high in the team’s batting line-up has sparked discussion in some arenas and consternation in others, with many questioning the batsman’s suitability for the position.
The batsman is typically known for batting further down the line-up, but during the most recent West Indies Championship made cameos in the position on three occasions. Batting at three, Reifer had notable scores of 79 and 71 and also scored 74 batting at number 4. Overall, he scored 345 runs from 5 matches.
“Mentally he is a very strong character but batting at three for Barbados would certainly have propelled this decision and we back him 100 percent,” Brathwaite told members of the media on Thursday.
“We 100 percent believe that Raymond can do the job. As an opener, the number 3 position is similar to an opener, it’s all about mental strength and we know Raymond has that and we are baking him to do well. He did well for Barbados at three this year. The year before he wasn’t at three, but mentally, and in terms of toughness, he is a guy that can get the job done and we back him 100 percent.”
Reifer has had a difficult start to the series against Bangladesh after being dismissed for 11 in the first innings and 2 in the second.
Game 1 - Position 3 23, 45
Game 2 – Position 4 74
Game 3 – Position 6 – 29, 27
Game 4 – Position 3 - 79
Game 5 – Position 3 - 71,
Campbell, in truth, did indeed struggle to make a strong impression at the crease against England in July. The left-handed batsman averaged a paltry 16.8 while tallying only 84 runs in six innings as the regional side lost the three-Test series 2-1. Campbell was caught behind twice, while in the first innings of the final Test he was caught for 32 when attempting to negotiate a steep short delivery from Jofra Archer. Wallace believes those struggles should have cost the batsman his spot.
“John Campbell is a very lucky man, I wish him all the best but it’s 'very best' in common letters. He struggled in England and then came back and said why he struggled, and we are taking him for another tour of New Zealand, which is said will be tougher,” Wallace said on the Mason and Guest radio program.
Campbell was far from the only batsman that struggled in England, but Wallace believes that is a part of the broader issue and called for tougher decisions to be made when it comes to selection.
“We pick the same batsmen that struggled in England and are sending them to New Zealand, saying New Zealand is going to be a bit tougher. How are we going to get these guys to perform? These guys have no confidence and the selection panel is going back with the same guys tried and tested,” he added.
"There are some players that are biting at the bit to get a play and we are rewarding people with mediocre performances. They had all the opportunities in England. The board sent them up there a month before, they played wonderfully well in the first Test, they messed it up in the second and third and you are rewarding them for mediocrity with a tougher Test?”
In four series in the Caribbean to date, Bangladesh has managed to secure just one win, which came in a 2-0 series sweep in 2009. The team could have even more reason to feel confident having handed the Bangladeshi’s a 2-0 defeat on their home soil last year.
With all that in mind, however, the captain is determined to ensure that the team keeps its feet firmly planted when the series bowls off at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Thursday.
“The biggest thing is that we can’t underestimate them. Not because they are not top 3 in the world means that we are just going to roll over them,” Brathwaite told members of the media on Thursday.
“I think as batters and as bowlers, we have to stay disciplined. We have to go out there and work hard. I thought the England series we did a good job as batters, a batter getting 100 every game. I thought that was very good, but we can’t just go out there and think we will be making a 100 just because it's Bangladesh, we have to work hard.”
Womens cricket
West Indies bangla
Pace bowler Romario Sheperd had captured 3 for 21 and led the way for the West Indies who reduced Bangladesh to 105 for 8 from 13 overs after the match had been reduced to 14 for each team after early showers delayed the start of play.
When play did begin, Munim Shahriar was dismissed in the first over, putting Bangladesh immediately on the back foot at 2 for 1. From there the team lost wickets at regular intervals, with Shakib Al Hasan providing the most resistance with 29 from 15.
Hayden Walsh Jr was the next most successful bowler for the West Indies after taking 2 for 24.
“I think we are getting to where we want to be. The aggression was there, the guys ran in and hit the wicket. They made Bangladesh play,” Simmons said after the match was called off.
“We took four wickets early on and I think we did the right things today. In the field we took all the catches that came to us, so we did all the right things.”
The teams are scheduled to play the second match of the series on Sunday at the Windsor Park Stadium in Dominica.
In a disappointing campaign, the defeat was the third in four games for the two-time defending champions, who in truth since the first ball was bowled never looked likely to mount a strong title defense and were barely clinging to semi-final hopes ahead of the Sri Lanka match-up.
Heading into the tournament, the team had highlighted its experience as a major advantage with several players in the team having won multiple world titles. In reality, however, things never really panned out. T20 star Chris Gayle, a controversial selection for the squad, made 30 runs in four games for an average of 7.50. Lendl Simmons made 19 over two matches for an average of 9.50, Andre Russell, who came into the tournament with an injury, made 7 runs in four matches for an average of 1.75. Pollard did slightly better with 46 runs at 15.33, while Dwayne Bravo claimed two wickets in four matches.
"A couple of young guys are putting up their hands (up) but the experienced guys, myself included, have not done well. We are not going to hide from the fact that it's been disappointing for us,” Pollard said following the match.
On Thursday, it was indeed the younger generation who stood up to be counted. Shimron Hetmyer was the team’s top scorer with 81 from 54, followed by Nicholas Pooran who scored 46 from 34.
"I'm sure all the guys are hurting in that dressing room. It's something we didn't see it coming but we have to face reality," Pollard added.
"I think we were below par. In a crucial match like this, you don't want to see those things (for fielding). Our bowlers did okay, they got 189 but it was a very good batting track.
"I think cricket smarts is something that has plagued us. We have spoken time and time again especially from a batting perspective what we need to do as individuals and we have not done well.”
The 32-year-old Bonner stroked a solid 86 from 245 balls, as part of a match-defining partnership with Kyle Mayers, who managed an unbeaten double century to steer the West Indies to a historic victory.
Mayers and Bonner remained unbeatable for the first two sessions but after cutting loose for a 6 off Taijul Islam, Bonner was dismissed lbw the very next delivery, after missing a flatter length delivery from the spinner.
“Personal milestones are always good but obviously we know that we do everything for the team,” Bonner told members of the media via a Zoom press conference.
“Obviously it would be good to make a 100 on debut but it wasn’t mean to be and I’m really just happy that we won the game,” he added.
Though Bonner did not get to triple digits on debut he still managed to make it into the record books. The 216 runs partnership with Bonner was the second-highest partnership by Test debutants, behind Pakistan's Abdul Kadir and Khalid Ibadulla, who put on 249 back in 1964.
The West Indies will return to international cricket, following an enforced absence due to the coronavirus epidemic, with a three-Test tour of England next month. The unpredictability of the team’s batting line-up, much as it has in recent years, will again be a source of concern, particularly with explosive middle-order batsmen Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmeyer unavailable for selection.
The duo, along with all-rounder Keemo Paul, opted to miss the tour over health concerns. The West Indies will need no further illustration than the opening Test of their last England tour for an example of a dismal batting performance. On that occasion, the team was dismissed for 168 and 137 in pursuit of England’s 514 declared.
“We've been concerned with our batting for a while, let’s just stop and be realistic. We don’t have the quality of batting that we want," Bradshaw told the Mason and Guest Radio program.
“We don’t have the quality batsmen but what we hope for, is that collectively we can rally and that we can get 300 and 350 and 400 by batting deep and by batting sensibly," he added.
"There are other teams in the world that have a similar challenge and they manage to fight through. For a number of years, we saw that with teams like New Zealand, where each player coming to the crease understood your job was to build a partnership that allowed the team to put a competitive total on the board. Getting runs in England is important, especially in the first innings, so there is no doubt that we will have to bat deep.”
Simmons, who was appointed a coach of the team in 2019, and Pollard, who was appointed West Indies white-ball captain that same year, have come under immense pressure in recent months, following a string of bad results and poor performances.
An aging Windies squad put in a poorly, lackluster showing at last year’s T20 World Cup, where they exited meekly, and followed that up with a historical One Day International series loss to Ireland and 3-0 T20 series sweep at the hands of Pakistan.
The team rallied to beat England 3-2 in a T20 series against England last month but were defeated 6-0 overall, 3-0 (ODI), 3-0 (T20I), in their most recent tour of India. In particular, the batting form of the team has been lambasted with many believing there to be an overall lack of concentration or engagement. Best believes given the results the leaders of the squad have to be judged on what they have accomplished to date.
“What kind of leader is not going to be accountable for the results that occur under his stewardship,” Best told the Mason and Guest radio show.
“If we are going forward, we have to focus primarily on performances and those performances have to be result oriented…Do we want a winning team and can we find that winning formula, certainly we do not have that formula now with either captain Pollard or coach Simmons. It’s as simple as that,” he added.
“The writing was on the wall a long time ago when he made the comment publicly that IPL and Trinidad came before West Indies cricket that is well documented and yet he finds himself as a Putin of West Indies cricket.”
The 32-year-old batsman was one of five players dropped from the Red Force squad, after a disastrous showing against Barbados Pride last weekend, in the West Indies Championships. Ramdin made a pair of ducks in a 299 runs loss. The team will take on the Leeward Islands Hurricanes this weekend.
The out of favour Windies player, however, revealed that the issues with the coach seem to spread deeper than just the one game.
“The coach does not want me on the team. We don’t talk, probably a good morning here or there but we don’t communicate,” Ramdin said in an interview with the T&T Guardian.
“It all started last year in St Kitts when we needed 140 runs from 15 overs and I was batting at the time. I called off the game because the next three batsmen to come after me was very young and it would have been difficult to get that score. I was told he left the ground and called the chairman of selectors (Anthony Gray) and the president of the board (Azim Bassarath) to get me fired,” he added.
According to the player, he has officially filed a complaint with the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB) but was told the situation could not be assessed immediately.
“I have complained to the board because this can’t be good for the team. The environment there is not good at all. The players on the team are not comfortable and this cannot be good for the young cricketers on the team.”
Despite starting the series in strong fashion, the West Indies were beaten eventually beaten 3-2 after failing to successfully chase a target of close to 170 in three of five matches.
Fabian Allen had the team’s highest average with 67 in four matches, followed by Evin Lewis with 35.60 in five and Andre Fletcher 32.50 from two matches. However, there will have been major concerns about some of the team’s seasoned batting stars who struggled to find a way into the series.
Veteran batsman Chris Gayle played four games and averaged just 18.66, with a high score of 32. Andre Russell averaged 15.50, also in five games, with a high score of 25, team captain Pollard had a high score of 51, but also struggled, managing to average just 22 in five matches.
A few of the team's younger, but seasoned T20 players also struggled, with Shimron Hetmyer averaging 19 and Nicholas Pooran 17.75.
The panel of selectors has come under pressure in some quarters for picking the veteran’s trio of Gayle, Fidel Edwards, and Darren Bravo. However, while Edwards picked up two wickets in two matches and Bravo was the leading wicket-taker with 10, the spotlight has continued to shine on Gayle’s struggles.
“Certainly, Bravo was the leading wicket-taker and Fidel played a couple of games and started to get into stride in the second game. But from a batting perspective we expect quite a bit more from the senior guys,” Harper told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“Maybe we just got carried away with the manner and the method that we used to win that first game from a batting perspective and just thought that we could continue in the same vein and found ourselves in a hole in the middle overs because South Africa adjusted their approach.”
In addition, the 81-year-old Perreira says he is totally and utterly disappointed that there has been no cover for fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, who in his estimation has deteriorated.
“We have given contracts to people who played four Test matches in a year, that cannot be fair,” Perreira said on the Line & Length TV Show on Sportsmax.
“The omission of (Shamar) Brooks and (Roston) Chase was surprising given the limited amount of cricket they played, I mean two series? Four or five Tests? I was hoping that WIPA would not have pushed for contracts now, especially since there is no first-class season.
“You dropped players and don’t give them contracts so how will you adequately judge their form and scores. Ideally, because of all that’s going on, those contracts should have been delayed until after the South Africa or Australia tour….or even Pakistan,” he passionately explained.
“(Shimron) Hetmyer not given a contract? He was losing weight and looked good in the IPL and we have to be careful not to lose players. Chairman Roger Harper said they are working with him, but doing what?! We just rushed a bit this year with the contracts,” he said.
As far as Gabriel is concerned, Perreira pointed to the fact that the 33-year-old who has 157 wickets from 54 Tests has slumped over the last season and CWI should have seen fit to contract two younger fast bowlers as cover for him.
“Gabriel is getting on and had an operation on his ankle. He is not the same! He struggled for rhythm and pace in England, seemed out of sorts against Sri Lanka, and in my estimation can’t play back-to-back Tests matches anymore.
“Gabriel is not bowling 140kmph easily and one good spell is not good enough. Surely, if you pick him, then the Board should have contracted two young fast bowlers to work alongside him and (Kemar) Roach,” he said.
The Guyanese Perreira who is a St. Lucian resident also endorsed the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, previously the Beausejour Stadium as the venue to hosts the West Indies vs South Africa series and advocates for a crowd of at least 1,000 spectators in the Johnson Charles stand, once they can prove a certificate of vaccination against the COVID19 virus.
On the back of a patient 86, which proved crucial to the Windies in their first Test win, Bonner once against set himself up to be the lynchpin of the innings. At the close of the first day’s play, the batsman remained unbeaten on a watchful 74 from 173 balls.
Bonner’s stand brought stability back to the innings after the Windies lost three wickets for 29 runs after lunch. The team had gone to lunch at 84 for 1, with Brathwaite on 36 and Shayne Moseley on six.
“For me, every innings that I play, I put pressure on myself,” Bonner told windiescricket following the innings.
“We get paid to make runs and to be consistent and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.”
Bonner, who will resume batting with Joshua Da Silva on the second day, admits the team suffered from early mishaps but has targeted making around 350 from the first innings.
“We had a few soft dismissals, but that’s the nature of the game, me and Josh are there now, and we still have others to come, so we will have to just bat as long as possible.”
In the end, the West Indies were comfortably beaten by six wickets but at one point seemed set for a higher total than the 157 for 7 that the team eventually posted. At 72 for 2, at the start of the 10th over, the West Indies had a set Pooran and Roston Chase at the crease and seemed set to build on a solid enough foundation.
The introduction of leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, however, threw a wrench into those plans as he immediately removed Chase who struggled to come to grips with the spinner before being dismissed for lbw. Bishnoi, who ended with 2 for 17, then removed the dangerous Rovman Powell later in the over. The debutant was the chief but not the team’s only issue as Yuzvendra Chahal had also proven difficult to get away on occasion.
“We played the spinners ok today, we would want to continue that and continue to build partnerships,” Pooran told members of the media following the match.
“We still need to negotiate the spinners a bit better, I think today we were caught in two minds how to go about them. Whether to attack them or keep them out of the game and we got caught in both minds there.”
Pooran top-scored for the Windies with 65.
For many decades the Windies was known for producing generations of fearsome fast bowlers. The likes of Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshal, and Michael Holding filled the hearts of countless opposition batsmen with fear for decades.
A new generation of Windies bowlers, led by Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel along with youngster Alzarri Joseph has shown some promise, in recent times, but are yet to scale the heights reached by the golden generation. Lloyd, who captained and played alongside many of the region’s top fast bowlers, has insisted the players had more than just pace.
“The thing with our fast bowlers is that they all did something different, it wasn’t just inswingers or outswingers. They bowled different things. So, when you came to bat against our players, you had to be at the top of your game and that’s why they were successful,” Lloyd told the Mason and Guest program.
“There was no let-up. We didn’t just have fast bowlers; we had thinking fast bowlers. They were not calypso cricketers,” he added.
The 33-year-old Barbadian-born speedster continued to enhance his own legend this week when he moved up to join Michael Holding on the all-time Windies wicket-takers list. With 249 Test wickets, Roach has established himself as the premier fast bowler of this Windies generation.
At 33, however, the player is heading towards the back end of his career, with the likes of Shannon Gabriel in the same position. For pace bowling wickets though, it seems the Windies will continue to have plenty of options for years to come with the likes of Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales, and all-rounder Kyle Mayers all showing plenty of promise in recent times.
“You have Jayden and Alzarri 24, 25, and Kyle Mayers who is showing great skill with the ball and there are other guys on the outside trying to get in as well,” Roach told members of the media on Wednesday.
“It’s good that we have a crop of fast bowlers coming through that can get the job done and they are learning every day at practice, how to improve their skills, their body and technique and whatever, that’s all you ask from these guys. It’s good that we have a pretty big quartet of fast bowlers now.”