West Indies went down once again against Australia to go 4-0 down in the series. While they played slightly better in this game, but once again could not close out the deal to remain winless in the series. There are a lot of areas that West Indies need to work on and here we will list out three main reasons why the hosts once again lost to Australia.
Losing wickets at regular intervals pegs West Indies back
West Indies were put into bat first by Australia once again. Much like previous games, they got off to a flier but never really went big. In this game, none of their batters went past 31. While they scored runs at a fair clip, but they also kept losing wickets which allowed Australia to come back in the game as wickets are the best dot balls.
Most of the batters got starts, but nobody scored 50+ whereas Australia had two batters scoring 50+ at a fair clip while Maxwell was close to his best as well. The pattern for the West Indies has been to lose wickets in clusters and then not having the required finish as they are forced to aim to bat out 20 overs rather than go for the runs. They managed to breach 200 but 205 was at best par not a winning score. At Warner Park, one needs to score 220-230 based on the pitches on offer and the ground dimensions. Chasing is easy but batting first is not very difficult.
Going forward, one would like to see West Indies improve on this aspect and the fifth game gives them a great opportunity to get things right. They would of course hope to chase on Tuesday morning, but even if they bat first, they need to do the one percenters right and thereby can put pressure on the Aussies a little bit. Their bowlers tried as much as they could but couldn’t get the job done in the end.
Conceding 18 extras proves to be detrimental for the West Indies.
Apart from bowling and batting department, West Indies lacked in one area today and that was the number of extras they conceded. They conceded as many as 18 extras and out of which 16 were wides. That meant not only 16 extra balls but the batters could take advantage of the extra balls by hitting sixes. 16 wides means West Indies bowled 3 extra overs almost which can be critical in a close contest that we witnessed today.
There are controllables and uncontollables and these extras fall under controllables. One can accept giving a total of 10 extras in 20 overs. But 18 in 20 and that too so many wides is not acceptable in international standards. True, Australia gave away 14 extras in the first innings they bowled, but West Indies were not good enough giving away freebies and this showed the indiscipline of the bowlers bowling wayward lines and lengths.
Going forward, West Indies needs to tighten up in this area and do well and give as less extras as possible. Today, every other ball was wides being dished out. Discipline is the name of the game and the hosts need to be more disciplined if they want to avoid a whitewash against Australia. They can do it, they just need to apply themselves and not get carried away with certain things.
Underutilization of Roston Chase confuses West Indies
For starters, Roston Chase came into bat at Number 3 but was out for a golden duck. So, at least he came out to bat. But then, when it came to the bowling innings, Hope used just 5 bowlers and did not have trust in using Chase. With Romario Shepherd going for 59 in 4 overs, it would not have been a bad idea to sneak in an over or two of Chase as a sixth bowler. But that was not to be.
This once again begs the question, the strategy of team management in using Chase and what is his role in the team. At this stage, he is not performing that well with the bat to warrant a place in the side as a pure batter. With the ball, he is seldom used and when he bowls he gets clobbered for runs. Not using Chase for even an over baffled many today.
The curious case of Roston Chase and what is his role in the team. If he has no role, then it won’t be a bad idea for the West Indies to bench him and play someone else. At this stage, it seems West Indies go into every game with 10 men on the park with Chase just filling his attendance. The management needs to sort this out as soon as possible and give all of us role clarity on where Chase stands in T20Is.
What Lies Ahead
So, Australia with a 4-0 lead will look to clean sweep the hosts when the 5th game takes place at Warner Park, St. Kitts on Tuesday morning IST. West Indies will look to hit back and salvage some pride in what has been a difficult series for them overall.
Will Australia complete the whitewash? Or will West Indies hit back hard and end the series on a high. Only time will tell as we get set for the final match of the series on Tuesday morning.
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