HOBART, Tasmania – Head coach Phil Simmons has chided West Indies’ batting effort as “unprofessional” following their stunning upset at the hands of Scotland in their Group B opener of the Twenty20 World Cup qualifiers here Monday.
In pursuit of 161 for victory at Bellerive Oval, West Indies shockingly collapsed to 118 all out in the penultimate over, going down by 42 runs.
“I think the only way you can look at it is – disappointed,” Simmons said.
“I think our batting, at least today, definitely was a bit unprofessional. And we need to wake up and start being as professional as we can be when we are batting.
“The bowlers seem to be working hard and putting us in good positions, but the batters continue to falter.”
He added: “You’ve got to sum up the situation and play to the situation of the game. I don’t think we did that at all times today.”
Choosing to bowl first, West Indies failed to contain Scotland in the power-play, the minnows racing to 54 without losing a wicket, to assume the early advantage.
Opener George Munsey top-scored with a Man-of-the-Match unbeaten 66 off 53 balls, putting on 55 for the first wicket with Michael Jones (20), 31 for the fourth wicket with Calum MacLeod (23) and a further 35 for the sixth wicket with Chris Greaves (16 not out).
In reply, West Indies were away quickly to reach 53 for one before collapsing spectacularly to lose seven wickets for 26 runs and all but surrender the contest.
All-rounder Jason Holder, who had earlier taken two wickets, top-scored with 38 from 33 deliveries before being last out.
Simmons said there had been no disruptions in the batting order and as such, a better performance would have been expected.
“Sometimes a batsman goes up [the order] and he has to propel his side with 10 balls, 15 or 10 balls, [sometimes] 20. So guys have to bat in different positions,” Simmons pointed out.
“Today there were no real different positions. I think guys are batting where they’re strong. We talk about looking at data and looking at different things. Guys are batting where they are strong. So, I don’t think that would be used as an excuse today.”
West Indies, two-time former T20 World Cup champions, now face a crucial second game against Zimbabwe on Wednesday, in order to keep alive their hopes of a place in the main draw of the tournament.
Only the top two teams from Group A and B advance to the main draw.
“[We] have to think about Zimbabwe and how we’re going to beat Zimbabwe,” Simmons said.
“It was last year, Bangladesh and them, they lost the first game and they still ended up in the Super 12. So we’ve just got to think about Zimbabwe right now.”
West Indies are also set to face Ireland on Friday in their final qualifying match.
-CMC
