ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Despite suffering a defeat in Friday’s second match, West Indies will not retreat when facing Sri Lanka at Twenty20 International today, as they chase after their third series victory in nearly three years.
The Caribbean side won the opening game last Wednesday of four wickets after successfully chasing 132 but falling to a loss of 43 runs two days later in their bid of 161, to leave the series wide open.
And while they paid the price for their adventurous batting in Friday’s competition at Coolidge Cricket Ground, captain Kieron Pollard said his side would not back down from their solid brand of cricket but wanted to be smarter in their attitude.
“To be honest, the guys know what we have to do. We’re going to have a conversation about how we’re going to go about it and we’re going to come back with the same kind of positive intent on Sunday, ”said Pollard.
“It’s all there to play for. We’re looking to come out and win and we’re looking to come out and still be positive. At the end of the day, that’s the kind of cricket we want to be playing – with intent.
“And it’s just a matter of using a small amount of cricket patches and using our matches well and we’ll be fine.”
The batting collapse that led to the West Indies defeat was not entirely surprising. At the inaugural T20 International, they struggled to chase a modest 132, having been undermined by spinners Akila Dananjaya and Hasaranga de Silva who both snapped three-wicket hauls.
And their fall from 45 for one in the second match to 117 all kicked off with three wicket bursts from Hasaranga and left-arm spinner Lakshan Sandakan, the latter of which was added to the attack after the first game failed.
Head coach Phil Simmons told the media on Saturday that the key to any success would be how West Indies batters navigated Sri Lankan spinners but also reiterated Pollard’s stance on positive play.
“The key is to make sure we look to play it (spinners) the right way,” Simmons explained.
“You can’t be too hesitant when you’re playing against good spinners so we have to go out there to look to score against them, and play cricket how we know to play cricket.
“All the boys who played IPL would have played against most of these spinners even better spinners so that’s what we have to make sure we do tomorrow.”
Despite the success of the Sri Lankan spinners, the West Indies have chosen only one in all-rounder Kevin Sinclair, preferring instead to center their attack around at speed.
And Simmons said he wasn’t too worried about the bowling attack, especially limiting Sri Lanka to below par totals, and then watching his batsmen struggle to chase.
“There is another spinner in the squad but there is more thought about how we negotiate, how we play, how we score runs against their spinners,” he stressed.
“I think right now that’s more important because of the bowlers and in the field, we’ve done an excellent job. [Restricting Sri Lanka to] 160 at 94 after 10 overs means the bowlers do their job so it’s more about how the batsmen do their work tomorrow. “
However, Pollard said the West Indies would not put themselves under unnecessary pressure.
“We’re going to be sitting back thinking about what we need to do, having conversations,” he noted.
“We can’t do much technically in 48 hours. It’s a quick change for us.
“Sometimes we get too into different things [but] we will keep it as simple as possible and come back to playing cricket with a smile on our faces. ”
SQUARE:
WEST INDUSTRIES – Kieron Pollard (captain), Nicholas Pooran (lieutenant), Fabien Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Rovman Powell, Lendl Simmons, Kevin Sinclair .
SRI LANKA – Angelo Mathews (captain), Ashen Bandara, Dushmantha Chameera, Dinesh Chandimal, Akila Dananjaya, Hasaranga de Silva, Asitha Fernando, Nuwan Pradeep, Oshada Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Suranga Lakmal, Dilshan Madushanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kamind. Pathum Nissanka, Thisara Perera, Lakshan Sandakan.