NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Bad habits die hard and if Thursday’s World Cup match against South Africa is any indication, West Indies clearly have not overcome their penchant to self-destruct at the most inopportune time and stage.
Few neutrals expect the team under Darren Sammy to go all the way to the April 2 final and the way they imploded against South Africa on Thursday, even the most optimistic in the Caribbean will have had to revise expectations.
The twice champions, whose last title was claimed way back in 1979, remain the same unpredictable bunch with a fatal tendency to squander any advantage that comes their way and undo all the hard work that have gone in building that platform.
On Thursday, they lost Chris Gayle to rival skipper Graeme Smith’s masterstroke of opening with off-spinner Johan Botha but the wobbly start seemed behind them as Darren Bravo, in Devon Smith’s company, guided them to 113 for one in 23 overs.
Just when a big total seemed imminent, West Indies pressed the self-destruction button, losing three quick wickets to find themselves in a rut.
Thanks to Dwayne Bravos’ quickfire 40, West Indies were 190-5 after 40 overs, which seemed the perfect foundation to go for a late charge before the Feroz Shah Kotla crowd was treated to the familiar West Indian collapse.
West Indies simply blew the advantage, losing their last five wickets for just 13 runs to set South Africa a modest target which they achieved with minimum fuss.
It was rather baffling to see Sammy managing to smile every now and then while dissecting the team performance in the post-match press conference.
“We were looking good for 270-plus but threw away the initiative,” he said.
“We created opportunities but didn’t capitalise on them. After 41 overs, we were 200 plus but lost quick wickets to fold up.”
HALF-HEARTED EFFORT
A similar half-hearted effort marked their bowling as well.
After cheaply removing South African opener Hashim Amla and batting mainstay Jacques Kallis, West Indies bowlers did not go for the kill, a lethargy shared by their fielding colleagues, especially Sulieman Benn.
Interestingly, Sammy still derived some positives from the comprehensive drubbing.
“Several of our frontline players couldn’t contribute much for different reasons,” he said.
“I couldn’t score, (Kieron) Pollard and Chris (Gayle) didn’t get any runs and Dwayne Bravo unfortunately got run out. Yet, we managed to raise 222.
“All we need now is to play consistently and capitalise on advantages.”
It, however, will need more than Sammy’s sunny optimism to put their campaign back on track.
West Indies take on the Netherlands in their next Group B outing on Monday.
