MOUNT MAUNGANUI, New Zealand, CMC – West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said his side paid again for inconsistent bowling, when they crashed to a 72-run defeat in the second Twenty20 International against New Zealand yesterday.
Another poor bowling effort followed by feeble batting from the World T20I champions condemned them to their second successive defeat against the New Zealanders at the Bay Oval, after Caribbean Premier League alum Glenn Phillips blasted a record, maiden hundred of 108 to set up the hosts.
The Windies bowling again was erratic, and Phillips smashed 10 fours and eight sixes in a 51-ball assault to record the fastest T20I hundred by a New Zealander, setting up the Black Caps for an imposing 238 for three from their allocation of 20 overs in the rain-affected match.
None of the West Indies’ batsmen could exhibit similar aggression against the disciplined, if not threatening New Zealand bowling – a handful got starts and failed to carry on – and the Caribbean side limped to 166 for nine from their 20 overs.
“We did not do ourselves any justice,” Pollard said. “Obviously, there is no comparison between what we did (this past) Friday and what we did (in this match).
“The end-result is we lost another game, so again, it is a matter of trying to pick ourselves up.”
He added: “We lost the game in different parts. I believe between overs nine to 15, they got away from us and we did not execute our plans properly.
“Again, it shows that on the international stage, when you are slightly off, your opponents are there waiting to pounce, so Phillips batted well, Conway batted well, and we were not good enough with the ball again, and in the field, we did not do ourselves any favours with some sloppy fielding.”
West Indies trail 0-2 in the three-match series, after losing the rain-marred first match this past Friday by five wickets under the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern Method.
The final match of the series is on Monday (2 a.m. East Caribbean Time), so there is not much time for Pollard and head coach Phil Simmons to turn things around for the team.
“We obviously want to win, but there is a process that we must go through for that to happen,” Pollard said.
“We need to have proper conversations before the game. There is nothing we can do physically. There is nothing we can do technically.”
Pollard said: “The guys have to look from a mental perspective and see what they want to get out of it personally.
“As a team we want to win, and there is always personal pride, so let’s see what mental space we bring in and what sort of performance we want to bring.”
Pollard said he did not believe his side was not yet in the right place to defend the World title next year in Australia, but it was a time for reflection by all concerned.
“There are still certain aspects we need to buck up on in our game,” he said. “It is good we are having these tough series away from home and players getting opportunities to stake a claim.
“The good thing is the World Cup is not tomorrow and hopefully the players can understand the magnitude when we have performances like this, the effects it has not only on the team, but the people at home in the Caribbean.”