A 2-0 series defeat to South Africa has led West Indies captain, Kraigg Brathwaite to blame the batters while the bowlers have been commended for their efforts.
This was disclosed during the post-match conference with the media yesterday. West Indies were bundled out for 97 and 162 to lose by an innings and 63 runs in the first Test. The hosts followed up that performance with another woeful batting display where they were bowled out for 149 and 165 to lose by 158 runs in the second Test.
“We didn’t do well as batsmen. We didn’t do the job. We let ourselves down, we let the team down and the people and the fans…as batsmen we know where we went wrong and we didn’t bat well full stop,” he said.
Brathwaite indicated that they had a plan which was to bat better and build big partnerships.
The opening batsman was highly critical of himself for not spending time at the crease and scoring 15, seven, duck and six in his four innings.
He noted, “I certainly didn’t do as well as I would like for the team and as batters if you look at the numbers and partnerships, we only had one 50-run partnership so I mean I obviously didn’t expect that but these things happen and it’s important to learn from that.”
While making it clear that it is not an excuse for their poor batting display, Brathwaite reminded the journalists that a lot of the players are still young in their Test careers while some are making their way back into the side from prolonged absences.
Notably, it was not all doom and gloom for the batting department. The captain took satisfaction in the performances of Roston Chase’s first Test 62, Kieran Powell’s half century in the second Test and Shai Hope’s 43. All three batsmen were making their return to the Test side.
Praises were also showered on the fielding aspect of the contest with Brathwaite highlighting, “We took some very good catches…we were magnificent in the field in terms of taking catches.”
Like the fielding division, the bowlers were equally as impressive and continued to be the highpoint of the West Indies Test side.
“The bowlers did a fantastic job!” the captain said as he added, “I must put the bowlers up there because we had some tough times in the field and each and every time we ask or I ask for a spell and different plan obviously they were tired, they were always willing to do the job. The bowling was magnificent and must be commented for their effort and putting us back into the second test as well.”
Brathwaite singled out Kemar Roach’s second innings performance in the second Test where he bagged 4-52 to restrict South Africa to 174.
