In the aftermath of West Indies’ defeat to South Africa, Captain Rovman Powell expressed disappointment with his team’s poor batting performance on what he described as a challenging pitch at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua on Sunday night.
The loss came in a crucial Super Eight match of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, where West Indies struggled to post a competitive total.
West Indies, tasked with setting a target, could only muster 135 for eight in their allotted 20 overs. Following a rain interruption, South Africa was set a revised target of 123 off 17 overs, which they chased down with relative ease to secure victory.
Powell did not shy away from acknowledging the efforts of his team while admitting to their subpar batting display. “As a batting group, this is one batting performance we’ll try our best to forget. We didn’t bat well in the middle overs especially,” Powell said.
Difficult pitch conditions
He attributed the challenges faced by both teams to the difficult pitch conditions. “I think it’s just a case of the wicket not being an easy wicket to bat on, to be honest,” Powell noted.
Despite standout performances from Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers, West Indies failed to capitalize on promising partnerships. The team suffered a collapse in the middle order, ultimately falling short of setting a competitive total against South Africa.
Reflecting on their overall performance in the tournament, Powell described the previous defeat against England as a “wake-up call” for the team. He emphasized the importance of consistency and resilience in T20 cricket.
