PAARL, South Africa — West Indies stand-in T20 captain Roston Chase has played down his side’s nine-wicket defeat to South Africa, insisting there is no cause for alarm as the team sharpens its plans ahead of next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The Windies suffered a comprehensive defeat in the opening match of the three-game series at Boland Park on Tuesday, after posting 173 for seven and watching the hosts coast to 176 for one with more than two overs to spare.
Execution, not results, driving preparations
Despite the lopsided result, Chase, who is leading the side in the absence of regular captain Shai Hope, said the series represents a crucial opportunity to refine combinations, tactics, and on-field roles rather than an exercise driven solely by results.
“I think we’re just trying to get the combinations and the tactics and the strategies right going into the World Cup,” Chase explained.
“I mean it’s going to be different conditions when we get to India, but I still think that once we play here we can still get a good idea of what we’re looking to do, what we want to do, and put the people in the right places to execute those roles.”
Honest assessment of opening match shortcomings
Chase acknowledged that the Windies were second-best in both disciplines during the series opener, conceding that their performance fell below the required standard.
“Firstly, I thought we were probably 15 to 20 runs short [in the opener]. We were initially looking for 190-195,” he said.
The skipper also pinpointed the early overs with the ball as a decisive factor in the outcome.
“To start the bowling in the Power Play we didn’t have the best of starts and it was hard to pull back the game from there, because the batters just had to knock around the ball and they didn’t have to take too many risks to keep up with the run rate after that Power Play.”
Power Play focus ahead of second match
With the second T20 scheduled for Thursday, Chase indicated that preparation would continue along the same lines, with particular attention given to improving Power Play execution with both bat and ball.
“I think we will prepare the same way we’ve been preparing for this match, but I think we just need to have a bit more plans in the Power Play to the batters,” he said.
Momentum lost at crucial stages
Chase also reflected on missed opportunities with the bat, noting that promising starts were undermined by untimely dismissals.
“I think that we had starts and we had a decent start in our Power Play, but we lost too many wickets at crucial stages. When we had the momentum going in our favour, we got out and put the game back into South Africa’s hands, and I think that slowed us down a lot.”
As the Windies look to level the series, Chase’s message was clear: remain calm, trust the process, and ensure execution improves before the World Cup spotlight intensifies.
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