BENONI, South Africa, CMC – West Indies Under-19s head coach, Graeme West, said the quarter-final defeat to New Zealand had been a “huge disappointment” and was a result that would leave a lasting impact on the side.
The Young Windies appeared to be coasting to victory last Wednesday after posting 238 and reducing New Zealand to 153 for eight in 35th over, but tail-enders Kristian Clarke (46 not out) and Joey Field (38 not out) staged a record unbroken 86-run ninth wicket stand to put their side over the line with two balls to spare.
“It was a huge disappointment to everybody involved, not just losing the game but having got into such a good position with 10 overs left,” West said.
“It was a tough one for all of us to accept and move on from. We learnt some lessons out of it but it is one that will live with us all for some time.”
Choosing to bat, West Indies were spearheaded by Kirk McKenzie’s 99 – the left-hander retiring hurt with severe cramp at the end of the 42nd over and perishing to the first ball he faced on resumption in the 48th over.
At one stage, West Indies were 183 for three in the 36th but lost their last seven wickets for 55 runs in a stunning collapse.
“We played some very good cricket between around 10 and 35 overs when we batted – between McKenzie, (Antonio) Morris and (Kevlon) Anderson. They got us into a fantastic position,” West explained.
“The team was looking at 280, 290 and even possibly more if we really went well in that last 10 or 12 overs but we lost three very quick wickets to very, very soft, poor shots and lost all momentum.
“We were fortunate to get up to [238] in the end so we were at least 40 runs short of what we should have gotten ourselves to.”
West said McKenzie being forced off at the time he was, had also been a huge blow to the momentum of the innings.
“When you have a man that’s in and well set, you’re hoping that he goes on and really bats through the innings but that wasn’t the case,” the Englishman recalled.
“He was struck down at a crucial moment because that was around the time we lost a couple of wickets. He played a fantastic innings, something he’d been threatening for some time without really making a big score but I was delighted to see Kirk really demonstrate his quality.”
West Indies bowlers then executed well to reduce New Zealand to 67 for four in the 16th over and despite a half-century fifth wicket stand between Simone Keene (33) and Quinn Sunde (32), left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd put the Caribbean side in command by snatching three quick wickets.
West said the designated death bowlers had failed to execute and West Indies lost the contest in the very late stages.
“The funny thing is we didn’t bowl particularly well in the first half of the innings. It wasn’t until the two spinners (Nedd and Matthew Patrick) came on that we actually really got some control on the game,” West pointed out.
“And then the last 10 overs – probably the last five overs really – was where the game slipped away from us.
“The guys who we had identified as our end-of-innings bowlers, they’d done a very good job when we were in a similar situation in the Tri-Series before Christmas but this time around they didn’t quite execute as well.”
He continued: “Credit also to the two New Zealand batters because they also played very well. We missed one big opportunity – a catch at mid-off – but aside from that, the two lads played superbly and took the game away from us.”
