NAGPUR, India, CMC – West Indies are anticipating a tough battle with South Africa in their third game of the Twenty20 World Cup here Good Friday, but captain Darren Sammy says his side will be gunning for the win especially with a spot in the semi-finals on the line.
The Caribbean side have won both their games in the tournament to lead Group 1 with four points while South Africa are third on two points and facing an early elimination if they lose the contest at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.
Despite the luxury of being unbeaten, Sammy assured West Indies had no plans on easing up against the Proteas and were viewing the game as a “must-win” encounter.
Andre Fletcher … struck a career-best half-century against Sri Lanka.
“We’re desperate to win. It’s a position we’re very happy with,” Sammy told a media conference here yesterday.
“We win this game and we definitely qualify for the semis so it’s a must-win game tomorrow for us, it’s another very important match. We have six steps to [winning] the cup, we’ve taken two and tomorrow is about taking one more step towards our goal and that step is South Africa.
“We’ve always had great games against South Africa and hopefully tomorrow is a very exciting match and at the end of the day, West Indies get the two points needed.”
The good news for the Windies is that superstar opener Chris Gayle is fit after suffering a hamstring scare in the last game against Sri Lanka. Unable to bat in that game in Bangalore, Andre Fletcher, in for his first game, was pushed up the order and unfurled a career-best unbeaten 84 to propel West Indies to a comfortable seven-wicket win.
Sammy said this was testament to the fact that West Indies were not overly dependent on Gayle, and possessed several players who were all match-winners on their day.
“We’ve been batting in partnerships. Somebody in the top four has carried their bat in both innings and we have been bowling well,” he noted.
“We’ve been doing the basics right. T20 to us is about entertaining and keeping it simple and that’s what we have done.
“We have really gelled well and played well as a team so we’re looking to continue that against South Africa, respecting the calibre of players they have in their dressing room but once we do what we do well, we will pose a problem for any team.”
The Nagpur pitch has been the centre of much speculation, having been kept covered for the last couple of days.
Superstar opener Chris Gayle (left) is fit again after a hamstring scare against Sri Lanka.
But Sammy said even though he expected conditions to play a role in today’s game, the Windies were just focussed on executing on whatever surface was presented.
“We just want to win cricket matches. So far the pitches we’ve played on, the stats say the teams that chases they have a higher percentage win ratio,” Sammy pointed out.
“We’ll look at the pitch conditions here. We saw the match with New Zealand and India how it turned so we’ll take that into consideration. Fortunately, I’ve won two tosses and it’s not something that’s guaranteed but whatever we’re asked to do first, we just have to do it well.”
He continued: “The pitch has been covered while we have been here … we spoke to the groundsman and he gave us a little bit of information about what we can expect but we as a group, we respect the opposition and we plan for them, but we are more focused on what the West Indies T20 team could do.
“I’ve said many times, once we do what we do well, we are a force to be reckoned well. We can be destructive and so far we have been doing just the basic things well.”
SQUADS:
SOUTH AFRICA – Francois Du Plessis (captain), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton De Kock, Ab De Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Chris Morris, David Miller, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese.
WEST INDIES – Darren Sammy (captain), Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Ashley Nurse, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Evin Lewis.