Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith, Ashley Nurse and Ravi Rampaul finished among the top five run scorers and wicket takers, respectively, in the recently concluded International Masters League in India.
The West Indies Masters, missing the star power of Chris Gayle and Brian Lara, suffered a 21-run defeat to the Sri Lanka Masters in their International Masters League T20 clash at BCA Stadium, Vadodara, on Thursday. It was their first loss after beginning their campaign with back-to-back victories over Australia and England.
The West Indies Masters suffered a narrow seven-run defeat to India Masters in a high-scoring International Masters League T20 encounter in Raipur on Saturday. Despite spirited performances from Dwayne Smith, William Perkins, and Lendl Simmons, the Caribbean side fell just short in an electrifying chase of 254.
Simmons was speaking on Sunday following the dismal performance of the defending champions while losing to England by six wickets in Dubai. The West Indies were bowled out for 55 in just 14.2 overs, a target achieved by England in 8.2 over albeit for the loss of four wickets.
During the match, several West Indies batsmen got out trying to clear the boundary, most notably opening bat Lendl Simmons, who swiped Moeen Ali and was caught on the midwicket boundary mirroring his dismissal to Mohammed Nabi in the team’s final warm-up game against Afghanistan.
Simmons conceded that this was a concern for the team.
“There is a concern from yesterday (Saturday) because the game awareness and situational awareness was not at its best. From that point of view, definitely and it is something that is being addressed, not just with him (Lendl) but with all the players as to how we assess the situation that we are in because it can be assessed inside; those in the middle must assess the situation and play accordingly.”
Notwithstanding those concerns, Simmons said the team will continue to play its natural game.
“Well, the style in which we play our cricket has always been in the style in which we play our cricket, but we got to assess the situation at the time and play according to the situation. We will continue to be in our aggressive state but our shot selection and assessment of the situation must be a lot better.”