ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – West Indies A captain Roston Chase has described the just-concluded one-day series against India A as “difficult” but said the hosts fancied their chances in the three four-day “Tests” bowling off on Wednesday.
The hosts suffered a 4-1 thumping in the five-match one-day series, their only win coming in the fourth match when they scraped home by five runs in a tense finish at Coolidge Cricket Ground.
Chase pointed to his side’s struggles with the bat, especially in the middle overs, as the source of their poor form.
“It was a difficult series, seeing the result 4-1 but I just thought that we fell down mainly in the middle overs [when] batting,” Chase explained.
“I thought we got some good starts in the later games but in the middle overs we lost too many wickets at important times in the game and that brought them back into the game too often. That’s where we really fell down in the series.”
His point was no more evident than in Sunday’s final match at Coolidge which West Indies A lost by eight wickets.
They were coasting at 71 without loss in the 14th over but once the opening partnership between Sunil Ambris (61) and Kjorn Ottley (21) was broken, Windies A lost their way as seven wickets tumbled for 47 runs.
Sherfane Rutherford’s 65 helped them recover to reach 236 all out but India A got the required runs in a canter, with Ruturaj Gaikwad (99), Shubman Gill (69) and Shreyas Iyer (61 not out) all gathering half-centuries.
Chose said as the series had progressed, India A’s batsmen had become more familiar with the home side’s bowling.
“In the bowling department I thought early on in the series we really hit our marks, [we bowled] good lines and lengths and we fielded well,” he pointed out.
“But coming on to the end of the series, I think the [India A] batsmen worked out our plans and they got the better of us.”
Chase will be a part of the “Test” squad which will clash with India A in the opener at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
He will be joined by experienced opener Kraigg Brathwaite, who played no part in the one-day series, as one of 10 players with Test experience in the line-up.
And Chase believes West Indies A will be more at home in the longer format.
“I’m looking forward to being more competitive in that series,” he noted.
“I think we’ll do a better job where the pace of the game is a little slower and we have more time to think and strategize what we’re looking to do. I’m looking forward to that and hopefully, we can come out in a better position in that series.
