West Indies crashed to yet another series defeat in T20Is and this time it was to Pakistan. West Indies have now lost 7 consecutive T20I series against Pakistan. While the Men in Green have plenty to celebrate and ride home about with lots of positives, the same cannot be said for West Indies. They are on a losing streak and needs to stop it as soon as possible as they had lost to Australia and England earlier. There are many factors for their loss, but we will try and list three of them.
Inability to break opening stand beyond 15 overs hurts West Indies
Pakistan won another toss and decided to bat first. People expected West Indies to take wickets to stay in the contest. But Pakistan duo of Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub had other plans. The duo assessed the conditions in the initial overs and then gradually accelerated and West Indies could not find the breakthrough at all. They played through the powerplay as the score was 47 after the powerplay.
West Indies failed to get breakthroughs even in the middle phase of the game as the duo accumulated runs with ease while the bowlers lacked teeth in getting the wickets. The duo put on 138 for the first wicket out of which 130 came in the first 15 overs. Pakistan were 130/0 in 15 overs and finally Farhan fell in the 17th over. Yes, the West Indies got wickets in the end overs, but Pakistan had the platform to go big and they did go big scoring 59 in the last 5 overs for the loss of 4 wickets.
Going forward, West Indies needs to be more incisive in the powerplay and middle phase to do well. Once a platform is laid it becomes virtually impossible to defend in the end overs and here there was all 10 wickets in hand. West Indies will look back and feel not taking enough wickets at the start cost them as Pakistan got to a score which was slightly above par on this surface.
Lack of Finishing Ability Hurts West Indies
West Indies to their credit came quickly off the blocks and stayed with Pakistan. Alick Athanaze played well with Jewel Andrew and then Sherfane Rutherford also kept the fight going. Their powerplay score was 59/1 while after 15 overs they were 130/3 similar to Pakistan’s. Yes, they lose their way a bit in the middle overs. But lack of finishing from the middle and lower middle order hurt West Indies.
West Indies seems to be confused as to who their finisher is down the order. Roston Chase who had a decent outing with the ball, got a decent start with bat in hand scoring 15 off 12 balls. But with 41 needed off 18 balls, he was made to retire out showing he is not a finisher but he comes down the order. Jason Holder missed out and by the time Shepherd came in, he was not timing the ball and did not get strike to stay unbeaten on 4. Keacy Carty is a pure batter and guess what, he did not bat at all as Motie was sent higher because he was trusted to be a better hitter.
West Indies needs to identify and find out who their finisher is. Someone who can come lower down the order with game on the line and finish things off or at least change the complexion of the game. There seems to be lack of role clarity on certain players and the finishing ability was not there and credit to Pakistan for holding their nerves and making it extremely tough for the opposition.
Underperformance of Romario Shepherd Hurting West Indies
Romario Shepherd continues to disappoint West Indies and his fans. He had another underwhelming performance with ball, while he came too far down the order with bat and did not get the strike. He was earmarked by Cricket West Indies to fill the void left by Andre Russell. But so far, in the matches that has followed Russell’s exit, he has failed to do that role at all.
In this deciding game, he came onto bowl only after 10 overs were bowled in the innings and bowled 2 overs giving away 20 runs as the batters played him with ease. There was no pressure created by him as length deliveries were dished out by Shepherd. With the bat, he came way down the order when the asking rate was sky high and did not get strike. In his 3 balls, he scored 4 runs and remained unbeaten. Even Gudakesh Motie who came in late timed the ball beautifully and better than him.
It is time that Shepherd takes more responsibility and comes higher up the order to finish games for West Indies. Even with him, there is role clarity lacking from the management and his performances have been way off the mark. He is no longer a young man, as he has experience of playing franchise cricket all over the world. It’s high time that he stands up and be counted to help West Indies get back to winning ways and more importantly winning series consistently.
What Lies Ahead.Â
The two teams will now head back to the Caribbean where the ODI leg of the series will kick off. The Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba will host all the matches with the first ODI scheduled on August 8th which is a Day-Night Game with the other two remaining fixtures Day games. Mohammad Rizwan is set to lead Pakistan in ODIS, while Shai Hope continues to lead West Indies in ODIs. Both teams return to One-day mode after quite a while.
Which team will gain the upper hand in the ODI leg of the tour? Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain, the games are expected to be tight and close with both teams evenly matched. Let’s see how things unfold in Tarouba.
Also Read: WI vs PAK: 3 Reasons For Pakistan’s Heart-Breaking Defeat In 2nd T20I