The English levelled the series after a narrow 1-run win, at the Kensington Oval, but early on in the West Indies run chase, after the visitors had scored 171, the result seemed a mere formality.
After a slow start from the hosts, tight bowling from England during the middle overs, spearheaded by Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, saw the West Indies tumble from 47 for 2 to 65 for 7 but a superb display of power hitting from Hosein and Shepherd, in the end, left the team just short of the target.
Shepherd blasted 44 from 28, a tally which included 5 sixes, while Hosein put in 44 from 16, including a flurry of boundaries to close out the match.
“Akeal and Shepherd have been working really hard on their batting. We have a long list of hitters in our team and tonight we saw something special from Akeal and Shepherd, kudos go to them, they didn’t give up at all,” Pooran said.
“It just shows the strength in our team, tonight was their night, we lost the game by two runs but another night someone else will turn up to the party,” he added.
At the same time, Pooran admits that the team could have gotten a bit more contribution from the top order. Pooran scored 24 himself and Darren Bravo 23, but both openers Brandon King (0) and Shai Hope (2) went for peanuts.
“I think Kingy (Brandon King) had a tough decision, but we have to accept those things and Hope was a bit unfortunate, the wrong decision maybe at that time. That set us back in the powerplay but having said that (Reece) Topley bowled really well in the powerplay.”
After receiving his debut cap at the Kensington Oval, ahead of the first ODI in the series, Cariah finished with figures of 1 for 49 in 9 overs. The spinner accounted for the wicket of Michael Bracewell who was dismissed lbw.
The 30-year-old player, a regular in the region’s A-Team, was added to the squad after Gudakesh Motie failed to fully recover from a fractured thumb, which he sustained during the ODI series against India last month.
“It was a great feeling, I worked very hard to reach here. It took longer than I expected but I’m grateful to finally have the opportunity and I’ve enjoyed it so far,” Cariah said of his debut.
Another debutant Kevin Sinclair also reaped success after taking 1 for 37 in the bowling unit's overall strong performance. The charge was led by Akeal Hosein’s 3 for 28 and Alzarri Joseph’s 3 for 36. All-rounder Jason Holder also chipped in with 2 for 39.
“I think we utilized the wicket well. I think Akeal bowled, Sinclair bowled well and all the bowlers, in particular, bowled well. We set up a good chase.”
Lewis himself played the role of destroyer in chief as he smashed a whirlwind 71off 35 balls. The knock included a massive 7 sixes and 4 fours, as he quickly put to bed any notion of South Africa dominating the T20 series the way they had the Test series.
“The most important thing was for us as openers was to have a good start. We went out there and got a good start with the first six and we pushed on to win the game,” Lewis said following the match.
The batsman who was caught by David Miller at long-off, off the bowling of Tabraiz Shamsi, admits it was somewhat disappointing to miss out on scoring a third T20 international century.
“At the end of the day, my goal was to get the team off to a good start and push on from there. Actually, I was thinking about batting as deep as possible, probably coming not out, getting a 100, but I look at the bigger picture of the team winning rather than scoring a 100 and the team loses.”
The 42-year-old scored an enterprising 67 from 38 balls as the Windies took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match T20 series.
The half-century would have come as a relief for the under-pressure batsman who had struggled to make an impact since being recalled to the team. In eight matches, against Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Australia, Gayle has averaged 12.71, with a combined 89 runs, and has a highest score of 31. In addition, the batsman has a strike rate of 94.68, well below his career average of 139.71. In fact, the score was the highest for the player since March 2016.
“It’s good to be among the runs. Yes, it’s a relief, any batter who hadn’t been among the runs for quite some time now would definitely want to be back among the runs…but it wouldn’t have been possible without my teammates,” Gayle said.
“He told me that he was backing me to go out there and play the cricket that Chris Gayle is accustomed to playing. So, getting the backing from my teammates, senior guys like Dwayne Bravo as well, Nicholas Pooran.
“It gave me goosebumps when Pollard was speaking in the dressing room. Me being a leader and I used to captain Pollard and I tried to help him excel in his career, now’s he’s the captain and for him to stand up and say ‘hey Chris’ and give me a reminder of how good I am. It’s fantastic.”
King made a crucial 54 from 66 balls as the Windies attempted to chase down India’s total of 308. Despite eventually falling short of the target, the performance was one of the team’s best in several ODIs, particularly on the back of a poor showing against Bangladesh.
In addition to King, Kyle Mayers added a half-century, while the lower order pair of Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd added a valuable 53-run partnership, which got the team close. King himself formed part of two half-century partnerships, the first with Shamarh Brooks, then Nicholas Pooran.
“We always believe that if we bring a game down to the final five overs we have guys that can chase down a total. Shepherd and Akeal showed that today (Friday), we were always in the game. We would have liked some of the early wickets not to fall so we could have some batsmen at the end but that’s part of cricket,” King said.
“It’s just our batting formula and how we want to play cricket. I think bringing down the game to the last ball, chasing 300 plus, was very good for us, another day we would have gotten over the line.”
The West Indies will attempt to level the series when they play India in the second ODI on Sunday.
Despite commendable performances from its bowling line-up, the Windies batting line-up continued to struggle for yet another series after going down 3-0 to India on Thursday. At the crease, in South Asia, the team at times looked ill-prepared or unable to find the resolve or technical ability needed to put partnerships together at crucial times or cope with the India bowlers for any prolonged period.
Similar to its performance against Ireland last month, where they lost an ODI series against that opponent for the first time, the Windies looked, perhaps more than ever, susceptible to losing wickets in huge clusters, which made it impossible to chase even modest targets. In three matches, the team failed to reach 200 with its highest score of 193 coming in an all-out effort in the second match, in pursuit of 237 for 9.
For the batsmen, it was Jason Holder who led the way with a modest 65 over three matches, followed by Nicholas Pooran with 61, while lower-order all-rounder Odean Smith had 60. By comparison, India’s top three featured Kuldeep Yadav who made 104 in three matches, Rishabh Pant made 85, while Shreyas Iyer made 80 in just one match. Overall, the India batting line-up, which chased a low target in the first match, outscored the West Indies line-up by 148 runs.
“This is difficult, the last six games have been difficult in this format. We started putting things together last year when we played Sri Lanka, it was difficult against Australia, but we started putting things together. For this (type of performance) to come now, it’s hard to take, it’s hard to take from the batsmen,” Simmons told members of the media on Thursday.
“It’s not outwardly showing, but it’s hurtful and the players know that. We have to make sure that we do the right things moving forward to get this batting line-up or whoever the batting line-up is to function as a batting line-up, to have big partnerships and assess the thing properly.”
The team’s highest partnership of the series was a 78 run seventh-wicket stand between Fabian Allen and Jason Holder. Overall, the majority of the team’s biggest partnerships came from batting places below the 5th wicket.
“The mode of dismissals is the biggest issue. If we are assessing the situation and we are playing according to the situation, and you get out then that’s execution. But not assessing the situation and knowing what you want to do in the situations and the modes of dismissal it’s hurtful, and it doesn’t make for good watching as we’ve seen. It’s something the players have to sit and get right as soon as possible. We can’t keep going like this.”
The 34-year-old has found himself at the centre of controversy in recent months, with the majority of the debate surrounding his lack of availability for the West Indies team. In the last year, despite his appearances at various T20 leagues around the globe, the player has not appeared for the West Indies since the T20 World Cup last year.
It is a situation that has at times left Windies coach Phil Simmons, and some fans, admittedly exasperated. With the player having not been part of the Windies T20 squad for the last year, many have speculated on the merits of his inclusion for the upcoming tournament.
The all-rounder, who is currently plying his trade for the Trinbago Knight Riders, insists the CPL tournament is his only focus at the moment.
"I am focusing on CPL at the moment. This is where it is for me at the moment. I am taking it one day at a time, one game at a time,” Russell told members of the media.
“Whatever is to happen will happen. I have no control over what’s going on at the (CWI) or what is going on in (the) selectors' minds…whatever happens in the next week or two only God knows, so I am not even going to stress on that,” he added.
“No one has reached out to me, no one has said anything…once I do the performance on the field then I leave everything else in their hands.”
In addressing recent criticism aimed in his direction by legendary fast bowler Sir Andy Roberts, Holder insisted he respected the former players a great deal. He, however, believes a great deal more could be achieved with a direct dialogue between the past and present players.
Rose, who is also well-known for pulling no punches in his analysis, agreed with the captain’s assessment.
“We’re all passionate about the game and we are all disappointed in the performance of West Indies cricket, but it seems as if some of the past players live to see the guys fail,” Rose told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“We should be supporting the guys. Give them a call, send them a text message. Give them a few words of encouragement,” he added.
“When I used to play Malcolm Marshall was my coach and I was honoured to be a part of that team. So, I would always try to impress as a fast bowler, impress the great Malcolm Marshall. I think if some of these past players would pick up their phones and send a message or words of encouragement to these guys, I think it would play a big part (in their development).”
In the light of the recently concluded series against Sri Lanka, which ended with two drawn games, several former players and Windies coach Phil Simmons has expressed dissatisfaction with the surface prepared for the tour.
The debate has, however, raged on long before that, with Ambrose himself listed among those previously suggesting that many of the pitches prepared are too flat and offer little assistance to bowlers.
The West Indies, Sri Lanka series has only added to the dissatisfaction. In both Test matches, Sri Lanka, then the West Indies, the teams enjoyed comfortable leads headed into the final day but ended up doing very little to disturb the batsmen in the pursuit of wickets.
“I have seen local cricket played at Sir Viv Richards cricket stadium where you have grass on the pitch and the ball bounces and carries with good pace … so it’s not a situation where it cannot be done,” Ambrose told the Good Morning Jojo Radio show.
“I felt that the pitches were a little too flat and I’ve been saying this for years — we need to prepare better cricket pitches where the batsmen could play their strokes and the ball bounces a bit for the bowlers,” he added.
While poor all-around batting display was the order of the day in a lopsided loss against South Africa in the first Test, the West Indies, as has become customary, had another slow start at the top of the innings.
The opening pair of captain Kraigg Brathwaite and recently recalled Shai Hope only managed to put 30 on the board in the first innings, with Brathwaite then partnering with another recalled batsman, Kieran Powell, to combine for 21 in the second innings.
Prior to this series, however, Brathwaite and opening partner John Campbell has had an average stuck at around the 22 mark for the last several series played. Campbell has been ruled out of the current series with an injury.
On the back of the lopsided defeat to South Africa, Simmons insists it is an area the team is desperate to fix.
“It’s one of the things we have been desperately trying to work on because if you look back, a lot of times when we win Test matches against top teams, we have good opening stands,” Simmons recently told members of the media.
“It’s disappointing because when you look at the last 7 Test 100s scored by an opener, I think they were all scored by Kraigg. So, it’s disappointing for us and we are trying to work very hard on that,” he added.
So far, the general consensus is that the regional team has, at times, been fairly impressive in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka. They battled to a 2-1 win in the T20 series, but then swept the visitors aside in a confident display during the One Day International series.
Lloyd believes some of that confidence stems from the performance of the Kraigg Brathwaite unit, which was understrength and underestimated heading to last month’s tour of Bangladesh but battled to a surprise 2-0 Test series win.
“I believe it is because of the way our players played in Bangladesh, that it trickled down. They put their head down and batted intelligently and won,” Lloyd told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“It galvanized those other guys to do the same. We had 274, 270-odd and we looked good. We batted well. (Things were tighter) in the T20s but we won out because we are getting that professional attitude back and that I think it is because of the guys winning in Bangladesh.”
The team will look to take the momentum into the two-match Test series, which will get underway on Sunday.
On Saturday, England leveled the series on the back of a stroke-filled 64 from the team’s captain Moeen Ali, which bankrolled the team’s first innings score of 193 for 6.
Things had looked far more controlled at the start of the 18th over, with England on 134 for 3. Holder, who had put together a tidy spell to that point, was the target of a savage attack from Ali who launched four consecutive sixes and eventually milk 28 off it. The following over for Romario Shepherd also proved costly as it ended up adding another 18 to England’s tally. Pollard admitted the expensive final overs were likely where the game turned.
“That’s the nature of T20 cricket all it takes is six balls or a couple hits to get you away from where you want to be,” Pollard said following the match.
“We were looking at around at around 160, 170, a total that would have been chasable but them getting to 190 put that extra 20 runs out of our reach,” he added.
“I thought right until then, and even when we started to bat, we had a very good chance. We slowed up in the middle not losing wickets but we were a little slow.”
The election would have pitted incumbent president Ricky Skerritt and his vice-president Kishore Shallow, against challengers Anand Sanasie of Guyana and Calvin Hope of Barbados. The event was, however, called off after a quorum could not be reached, following the absence of representatives from Barbados and Guyana.
The reason presented by both the Guyana Cricket Board and Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) is that Cricket West Indies (CWI) had failed to observe protocol by submitting an audited financial statement 14 days before the AGM.
The JCA, through a release issued on Monday, claims the decision to postpone the election, once again spoke to the need for government reform.
“This occurrence which is potentially damaging to the reputation of the people in the Caribbean as well as those in the diaspora highlights the urgent need for change to the structure of CWI,” the release read.
JCA president Wilford Heaven, a part of the CWI finance committee, responsible for distributing the financial report called the inability to reach a quorum regrettable. He claimed that five regional boards had already agreed to waive the 14-day requirement for the consolidated report. The fault, Heaven explained, was that of the auditors and as such there was little the CWI could do.
“We have to ensure that this does not happen again in West Indies cricket. I believe it is an embarrassment to everyone concerned and its obvious that we need for better governance to ensure better leadership,” Heaven said.
“The Wehby report is an outstanding agenda item that we now need to pay serious attention to. It is now even more important given what happened to the AGM.”
Joseph, who scooped man of the match honours, certainly played his part in the crucial victory, bowling with plenty of pace and hostility to restrict Zimbabwe to 122 in pursuit of the West Indies 153 for 7.
The win, however, while giving the Caribbean team a tournament saving two points, still leaves them just out of the equation on Net Run Rate. In the ultra-competitive group where all the teams are on 2 points after 2 matches, the equation becomes simple. Win the next one and advance.
“It’s very encouraging but we know the job’s not done. We still have one more game to win and we have to try and get that win in order to get out of this round,” he added.
For the second match in a row, Joseph, who worked well in tandem with Holder, was brought in with the team on the back foot and managed to steady the ship so to speak.
“For me, it’s all about pulling it back for the team. I try and get an early wicket, if not I just keep it tight,” he added.
The West Indies will face Ireland in their final fixture of the tournament on Thursday at 11:00 pm, while Zimbabwe will face Scotland.
For that to happen, the players would have to go through rigid isolation and testing protocols, as well as austere social distancing measures.
Of course, the proposal will include officials as well as media and the England skipper thinks it can work.
“I’m optimistic about it. It would be a real shame if it doesn’t happen. The public are desperate for some live sport and the guys are missing it,” said Root.
“The players would be sectioned off in one part of the hotel and would be in isolation together. There would be no interaction with the media, the TV crews or even the opposition when off the pitch.
“We would have separate lunchrooms. It would have a different feel to it but it’s probably manageable. Hopefully that is the case.”
According to the proposals, the three Tests would be played at ‘bio-secure’ venues behind closed doors.
Those venues, the proposal points out, are those that have hotels on location, like Manchester, Southampton and Headingly.
Root, while optimistic, is cognizant of the fact that Cricket West Indies (CWI) would have to take the risk.
In response, West Indies Test captain Jason Holder, has said his side would have to be certain of their safety before saying yes to such a proposal.
“This thing has been really, really serious as we all know and has claimed quite a few lives throughout the world and that’s the last thing any of us would really want,” said Holder.
“I think we’ve got to play the safety card first before we can even think about resuming our normal lives.”
In the meantime, CWI Chief Executive, Johnny Grave, has said the England Cricket Board’s proposals were being considered but that first all the moving parts would have to be understood.
England will be desperate to get back the Wisden Trophy they lost to the West Indies last year for the first time in a decade.
Chasing a sizeable first innings score of 436, Nottinghamshire crumbled for 276, despite 111 from opener Haseeb Hameed and not losing their first wicket until they had put 115 runs on the board.
Charlie Morris had the best bowling figures for Worcestershire, after taking 3 for 30 but Joseph chipped in with 2 for 33. The West Indies accounted for top-order batsman Ben Duckett and Nottinghamshire were then forced to follow on still some 160 runs short of the target.
In the first innings, Joseph was part of a staunch lower-order effort that ballooned the tally late on. Joseph recorded his first half-century in the competition with 61, Ed Barnard added 58 and captain Joe Leach 84.
The total adds to Joseph’s debut innings of 46 from 55 against Derbyshire last week. On that occasion, the bowler also chipped in with 3 wickets.
The 24-year-old racked up an impressive 82 from 108 balls, as part of staunch mid-lower order resistance, en route to the Windies posting a satisfactory first innings score of 409. In the end, Joseph’s aggressive innings was ended when he was caught by Liton Das as he attempted to pull away Abu Jayed.
His total proved a handy one for the team, who will count any runs from the bowler as a huge bonus. For Joseph, however, a player who prides himself on his batting, it was the second time he was coming close to making his first Test century.
Against New Zealand, in December, Joseph put together a commendable 86, which remains his highest score to date.
“It’s disappointing not to get 100 but I’ve been working hard on my batting, so there will be other opportunities to get that total,” he added.
“When I came to the crease it was just to spend some time and support Josh (Joshua Da Silva) at the crease."
Together Joseph and Da Silva put together an important 7th wicket partnership.
At the end of the first day, Joseph remained unbeaten on 46 from 81 balls and sharing in an eighth-wicket stand worth 89 runs with Ed Barnard. The partnership took Worcestershire to 305 for 7, after looking in some trouble at 216 for 7 earlier on.
The total marks Joseph’s second 40+runs innings of the young season, having opened up with 46 from 55 against Derbyshire last week. On that occasion, the bowler also chipped in with 3 wickets drawing commendation from Worcestershire coach, Alex Gidman, who praised the player's mentality.
When play resumes Joseph could be looking for his first half-century in the competition, having signed a seven-game deal with Worcestershire for the first part of the season a few weeks ago.
The 24-year-old has taken 37 wickets from 15 Tests and shown plenty of ability with the bat of late, scoring half-centuries on successive Test tours of New Zealand and Bangladesh.
With 13 Test match appearances and 29 One Day International (ODI) games under his belt, the 29-year-old fast bowler has done most of his damage with the ball. Joseph has taken 32 Test wickets and 48 ODI wickets, on occasion, however, he has shown plenty of ability with the bat.
In the recent series against New Zealand, the bowler’s 85 in the first Test was one of the batting highlights in an overall poor showing at the crease for the West Indies. Despite showing flashes of ability, the player is yet to display any type of strong consistency with the bat, but he admits he is working towards it.
“Personally, I’m aiming to be an all-rounder, but, as of now, I’m just taking everything step by step,” Joseph told members of the media from Bangladesh on Thursday.
“I’m looking to first do my main attribute, which is to contribute with the ball, and then when it comes to batting, I will give my best, whatever performance I can put in with the bat I will put it in,” he added.
Lara, speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, for instance, believes talented 23-year-old Shimron Hetmyer has personal issues like his fitness that he needs to deal with before he is quite ready to take the world by storm.
“People have challenges in different ways and Hetmyer, obviously, is a very talented cricketer, someone who plays all forms of the game for the West Indies. If he is unfit, he has to see it as a personal challenge. Fitness levels are so very important. So if fitness is his problem, I would like to see him face that challenge himself, and he’ll be a much better cricketer,” said Lara.
Lara though, has much more immediate hopes for others in the West Indies squad like Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran and Alzarri Joseph.
According to the former Windies captain, Pooran understands his role in the team, while the West Indies can find Hope’s stability useful, even in the T20 form of the game, while Joseph is a gamechanger with his ability to take wickets.
“I like Nicholas Pooran, he’s settling down and understanding his responsibilities more now. Shai Hope could play a part in the T20 World Cup, being that solid guy with a great technique that can hold the innings together. Those are the three players I’m really looking forward to seeing. Alzarri Joseph is someone who I look at and say ‘this guy has got potential, he’s a wicket-taker’. He is someone who I’d like to see do well,” said Lara.
Lara, as he has said before, believes the team can learn much from the example of Virat Kohli.
Kohli, he said, has worked hard on his fitness and that, Lara explained, is the perfect lead for Hetmyer to follow.
