American nightmare for out of sorts West Indies

WEST INDIES captain Nicholas Pooran oversaw his lacklustre West Indies being totally outclassed in the five-match T20I series, ending with a whimper as they were whittled out for just 100 to sign off the series against India with a 4-1 reversal over the weekend.

Following last month’s humiliating ODI 3-0 series defeat to India, Pooran’s squad failed to bounce back and were largely poor with the bat – apart from the 2nd T20I success in St. Kitts.

His next test will be the trio of T20I matches against New Zealand at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, which starts on Wednesday (August 10).

The West Indies made unwanted history in the fifth and final T20I at the Central Broward Park in Florida, the sole cricket stadium in the US. Pooran’s team became the first side to ever have just been dismissed by spinners.

India rested skipper Rohit Sharma and put Hardik Pandya in charge. Shreyas Iyer finished as top scorer with 64 from 40 balls with significant quickfire contributions from Deepak Hooda (38) and Pandya (28).

Jamaica’s fast medium bowler Odean Smith (3-33) was the only player to grab more than one wicket as India powered their way to 188-7 to set the Windies a stiff target.

Trinidadian Pooran mixed things up by promoting all rounder Jason Holder to opener. That plan backfired as the Bajan was sent back to the pavilion for a duck, clean bowled by Axar Patel’s third delivery.

Patel sent Bajan Shamarah Brooks (13) and Antigua’s Devon Thomas (ten) packing as the Windies crumbled to 33-3 in the fifth over.

Pooran was the next victim, dismissed for three by Ravi Bishnoi who finished as the leading wicket taker with 4-16 off just 2.4 overs. Kuldeep Yadav ended with figures of 3-12 as the West Indies fell for 100 in 16 overs.

Guyana’s Shimron Hetmyer’s bagged 56 off 35 balls, but none of his partners at the crease offered any real support. He lasted until the 16th over, caught by Shreyas Iyer off Bishnoi, then could only watch in despair as Obed McCoy was dismissed without scoring. The Jamaican was one of five players to finish with a duck.

Pooran admitted: “India came out aggressive, but as batters we didn’t learn. As bowlers we are getting better, but we need to learn faster. It is a game of skills versus skills, and today we were not good enough.

“When you come against one of the top teams in the world then execution is important. There’s a lot of cricket to be played and a lot of experience to be gained. Hopefully we can learn as a team with these losses.”

DEFEAT: West Indian skipper Nicholas Pooran

India kicked off the T20I series with a 68-run win at the ultra-modern 15,000-capacity Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad. The contest made history on July 29 by hosting a men’s international for the first time.

The West Indies then scored a rare triumph over India courtesy of a low-scoring and closely-fought five-wicket victory at Warner Park in St. Kitts to level the series.

India bounced back to defeat the Windies by seven wickets, with an over to spare, in the 3rd T20I match at Warner Park.

With everything to play for when the series moved to the United States, Pooran’s side failed miserably with the bat. Skittled out for 132 in reply to India’s 191-5 meant Pooran had lost the series. There was no consolation victory in the final T20I when only Hetmyer and Smith shone.

Yet Pooran was upbeat about the Windies being competitive in the T20I World Cup that will be held this year in Australia. He said: “We just won a series [2-0 against Bangladesh], we lost another series here [to India], but we are building towards a World Cup and when we reach there we are ready to compete.”

This crushing 4-1 defeat to India will surely leave a sour taste in the mouth of Cricket West Indies (CWI), who once again supplied Pooran with a depleted squad.

New Zealand are the next opponents with a trio of T20I matches to be contested at Sabina Park in Jamaica on August 10, 12 and 14, with the CWI no doubt desperately hoping for some vast improvements.

WI v INDIA SHORT-BALL SERIES

1st T20I | India won by 68 runs
India 190-6 (20 overs)
West Indies 122-8 (20 overs)

2nd T20I | West Indies won by 5 wickets
India 138 all out (19.4 overs)
West Indies 141-5 (19.2 overs)

3rd T20I | India won by 7 wickets
West Indies 164-5 (20 overs)
India 165-3 (19 overs)

4th T20I | India won by 59 runs
India 191-5 (20 overs)
West Indies 132 all out (19.1 overs)

5th T20I | India won by 68 runs
India 188-7 (20 overs)
West Indies 100 all out (15.4 overs)