TAROUBA, Trinidad, (CMC) – WEST Indies captain, Shai Hope, believes the challenging conditions at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy coupled with the inability of the team’s batters to bat deep into the innings were the main reasons behind their five-wicket defeat to Pakistan in the opening ODI on Friday night.
The home side was sent in to bat after losing the toss in the day/night contest in what Hope described as tough conditions.
He said the fact that the West Indies then had to bowl under the lights with heavy dew made it even more difficult.
“Tough conditions here to bat first on a hot day where the pitch is spinning a bit more and their threat would have been the spin.
“And it’s always tough as a bowling group to bowl in those types of conditions when the ball is very wet and tough on the spinners to get a good grip on the ball and make that ball turn,” Hope said in a post-match interview.
“It was always challenging for our bowlers in the back end, but as a batting group we probably should have gotten a little bit more runs to give our bowlers some more cushion there with the wet ball.”
Opener Evin Lewis, who topscored with 60, along with Hope (55) and Roston Chase (53), all made half centuries but failed to push on as the West Indies were dismissed for 280 in 49 overs.
However, Hope conceded that after getting starts they should have carried on and made bigger scores.
“There’s something that we always speak about, if someone gets in it’s important for them to go as big as possible or as deep as possible.
“It’s something I must say that we didn’t do as well as we could have, especially Evin in that situation he got out at a crucial time. He played really well in the conditions, but if he’d gone on to score a big hundred there it would have changed the context of the game. We know how dangerous he can be, especially in the back end of the innings as well,” Hope said.
“But we as batters, we have to go a lot deeper and force the bowlers to feel a bit more pressure when you get in on a surface like that.”