Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 29/Jul 19:40

Captain Hope: Windies were always behind the eight ball

WEST INDIES white-ball captain Shai Hope said the team's inconsistency led to the crushing 5-0 T20 series defeat they suffered to Australia. The fifth and final game was played at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts on July 28, with the West Indies falling to a three-wicket loss after posting a modest 170 when asked to take first strike. After succumbing to a 3-0 series loss to the Aussies in the preceding Test series, the regional team would have been hoping for better fortunes in the shorter format. However, the visitors were unrelenting and they capped off a flawless Caribbean tour by chasing a 171-run target with three overs to spare to seal the fifth and final T20. Hope commended the execution of the Aussies and said their aggressive approach gave the West Indies little chance to hit their straps. "You could see the clarity and plans they had. Every single time they bowled in situations of the game, you could see what they were trying to do. The bowlers were executing a lot better," Hope said, at the post-match presentation. "(Their batsmen) never allowed us to settle as a bowling group. Even though we got some wickets in the power play in most of the games, they just kept their foot on the gas and it was difficult to stop them, especially when you're playing on such a small ground and a good surface like it is here in St Kitts. We were always behind the eight ball because we didn't get bigger scores on the board." For a fifth straight match, the Windies captain lost the toss as his team was inserted to bat. The start by the Windies was far from ideal as they slipped to 32 for three in the fifth over as Hope (nine), Brandon King (11) and Keacy Carty (one), who came into the squad as an injury replacement for Evin Lewis, all fell cheaply. Guyanese middle-order batsman Shimron Hetmyer top-scored with 52 off 31 balls, with his countryman Sherfane Rutherford making 35 off 17. After Rutherford was bowled by Glenn Maxwell (one for six) in the eighth over, Hetmyer and former West Indies captain Jason Holder (20 off 15) had a 47-run partnership for the fifth wicket before the Men in Maroon slipped to 111 for five in the 13th over. The Windies tried to pick up the tempo at the death, but they lost five wickets at the back end and were also guilty of not utilising their full quota of overs. Nathan Ellis got the wickets of Romario Shepherd (eight) and Matthew Forde (15) in the latter overs to finish with figures of two for 32, with Man of the Match Ben Dwarshuis leading the attack with three for 41 – including the scalps of Hope and King in the power play. Hope said the West Indies have shown glimpses of what they could do, but admitted the inability to maintain a high standard for long periods. "Over the years, we either start well with the bat and falter at the back end or vice versa...we're all human beings and we don't always get it right. If you're playing against proper opposition like that, you've really got to be a little more consistent in all three areas. Certainly, we just have to be little better and more ruthless when it comes to our allround cricket." The Windies skipper pointed to an improvement from his bowling group in the last two games, and they certainly started well in the early stages of the last match as Australia were stuttering at 25 for three in the third over. Holder (two for 36) landed a double-strike in the second over, with Alzarri Joseph (two for 21) also getting a scalp. However, with a power-paced middle-order, Australia quickly hit themselves out of trouble as Tim David (30 off 12), Mitchell Owen (37 off 17) and Cam Green (32 off 18) all found the boundary with regularity with timely cameos. "If I had all the answers, we'd be winning all the time. Again, it's important for us to learn from the little mistakes we've been making continuously," Hope said, when asked what's needed for his team to put the total game together. Dating back to last October, West Indies have lost 16 of 19 completed T20s, with a 1-0 series win over Ireland in June being the only successful feat in the last six T20 series. Bangladesh (3-0), England (3-0) and now the Aussies (5-0) have all swept West Indies in that period. "It's Australia and you have to give them credit for how they played throughout the Test series and then the T20 series. As much as we pride ourselves on being a very strong team – we certainly could compete with the best in the world and we've shown that – but if we don't put the games together and passages of the game together more consistently, then we'll always find ourselves behind the eight ball." Australia were momentarily stalled in the middle overs through a miserly spell from Akeal Hosein (three for 17), but even the wily left-arm spinner couldn't stop the inevitable as the visitors stormed to 173 for seven in 17 overs to land another comprehensive win. It was the first time the Aussies completed a 5-0 T20 series win over an International Cricket Council full member nation and would certainly leave Hope and West Indies coach Daren Sammy looking for answers ahead of a three-match T20 series against Pakistan. "We've got to put this series behind us. It's literally a quick turnover so we've got to put our focus on what we're going to do against the Pakistanis," Hope said. "We've got our plans already. We've got to make sure we're focusing hard on them. The biggest thing I keep mentioning is the execution. As long as the execution is ten times better, I'm sure we're going to win the series." The regional team's T20 series against Pakistan runs from July 31-August 3 at Central Broward Regional Park, Lauderhill, Florida, with a three-match One-day International series to be played from August 8-12. All three ODIs will be played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba, Trinidad. Summarised Scores: WEST INDIES – 170 from 19.4 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 52, Sherfane Rutherford 35; Ben Dwarshuis 3/41, Nathan Ellis 2/32) vs AUSTRALIA – 173/7 from 17 overs (Mitchell Owen 37, Cam Green 32; Akeal Hosein 3/17, Alzarri Joseph 2/21). Australia won by three wickets. The post Captain Hope: Windies were always behind the eight ball appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.