By Leighton Levy (Sportsmax)-West Indies white-ball captain Shai Hope offered a frank assessment of his team’s performance following their fourth consecutive T20I defeat to Australia on Thursday, acknowledging shortcomings in both tactical execution and fielding.
The home side posted a competitive 205 for 9 in Basseterre, but Australia chased it down with three wickets and four balls to spare, thanks to Cameron Green’s unbeaten 55 and Glenn Maxwell’s explosive 47. The defeat leaves the West Indies 0-4 down in the five-match T20I series, following a 3-0 series loss in the Tests earlier this month.
In his post-match remarks, Hope pointed to the team’s failure to fully assess conditions and the importance of improving fielding intensity.
“We understand how difficult it is to defend a score here. The way the Aussies have been batting, I think we need a little bit more runs to cushion our bowling performances,” he said. “But maybe we didn’t assess as well as we could have. That’s something that we still need to look at going into the last game.”
He continued: “We always understand or we kind of neglect the importance of strong fielding performances, especially when the ball is flying all over the place. You’ve got to ensure that you’re putting your body on the line, taking those crucial chances because that can be the deciding factor of who wins and who loses. So it’s something that we may have let ourselves down in a sense. But the reality is fielding is very important in cricket games, especially close ones when you have to give yourself a chance of winning.”
West Indies will look to end the series on a positive note when the final match is played on Saturday.
