The opener has come under heavy criticism following his 33-ball 32
West Indies captain Shai Hope admits his innings against India in Sunday’s Super Eight encounter at the ICC T20 World Cup might have been the difference between the two teams in his side’s 5-wicket loss.
When asked if a more aggressive approach on his part could have resulted in the Caribbean side adding 15-20 runs to their first innings total of 195 for 4, the Barbadian replied, “Yes, that's my answer, yes.”
Hope hit three boundaries and a maximum before he was bowled by Varun Chakravarthy on 32 with the 33rd delivery that ended his innings. His wicket was the first to fall and left the West Indies 68 for 1 in the 9th over.
“It's one of those things; sometimes you just don't get the ball away,” Hope said. “As much as you’d love to come and hit every single ball for six, it doesn't happen.”
Sri Lanka 102 for 6 (Athapaththu 39, Dilhari 18*; Joseph 2-13) beat West Indies 101 all out (Matthews 28, Taylor 14; Malki 3-16) by 4 wickets
Athapaththu’s all-round effort was the difference between the teams
The West Indies went down to Sri Lanka by 4 wickets in the 2nd Women’s T20 International at the St. George's National Cricket Stadium in Grenada on Sunday, falling 1-0 behind in the 3-match series. The Caribbean side was bundled out for 101 before the Sri Lankans put on a match-winning opening partnership to set up the win.
Chasing 102 for victory, Chamari Athapaththu and Hasini Perera (18) accounted for more than half of the required runs, sharing in a 45-ball 62-run opening stand. Athapaththu top-scored with 39 (from 26 balls) to put Sri Lanka in the driver's seat.
Spells of 2 for 132 from Qiana Joseph and 2 for 16 from Afy Fletcher saw the visitors lose 5 wickets for 12 runs, to be restricted to 74 for 5. The damage had, however, already been done, with Kavisha Dilhari’s unbeaten 18 (13 balls) helping Sri Lanka secure the win at 102 for 6, with 11 balls to spare.
India 199 for 5 (Samson 97*, Varma 27; Holder 2-38) beat West Indies 195 for 4 (Chase 40, Holder 37; Bumrah 2-36) by 5 wickets
The West Indies were eliminated from the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup following a 5-wicket loss to India at Eden Gardens on Sunday. The Caribbean side overcame a slow start to set the hosts 196 for victory, before a monster innings from Sanju Samson set up an India win.
Samson was at the heart of everything India did in the chase. The opener’s 50-ball unbeaten 97 meant he featured in every partnership before taking 10 runs from the first two deliveries of the 20th over to secure a semi-final spot for the home team.
He and India were watchful to begin, before the right-hander targeted Akeal Hosein in the 3rd over. He hit two sixes and a four before Hosein responded with the wicket of Abhishek Sharma (10). Jason Holder then got rid of Ishan Kishan for a similar score, to leave India 53 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.
Samson shared in a 58-run partnership (from 35 balls) with skipper Suryakumar Yadav (18) for the 3rd wicket before putting on 42 runs (26 balls) with Tilak Varma (27) for the 4th.
Cricket West Indies has confirmed its decision to forgo the one-off Women’s Test, which was set to highlight Australia’s tour of the Caribbean, bowling off in March. CWI’s Director of Cricket Miles Bascombe says the move is strategic and will assist in focusing on the shorter formats with an eye on the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup beginning in June.
"Our planning this year prioritizes maximizing white-ball readiness ahead of the World Cup,” he said. “This series forms a central part of that preparation, allowing us to concentrate resources and build combinations.”
The Test, initially scheduled as part of the ICC Future Tours Program, would have been West Indies’ first since 2004, and Bascombe revealed that CWI is already seeking other opportunities for the Caribbean side to return to the format.
“We remain committed to the long-term growth of women’s Test cricket, and discussions are already underway for a future red-ball opportunity, including a highly anticipated series against England in 2027,” Bascombe said.
In this two-part series, former Windies seamer Shakera Selman talks about the state of the current team as well as the challenges facing women’s cricket in the Caribbean
Is it then reasonable to expect players to transition quickly, given the limited number of games they play?
I think maybe what we need to do is not be so harsh on them when they don't improve at the rate the players from other countries are improving. They aren't playing enough cricket at the regional level. And our players need to play more cricket outside of the Caribbean as well.
If there's no way for us to support them playing more cricket here because we don't have the finances, then we must have relationships with counties in England, Australia, or wherever, where we can send them on some type of program overseas.
You made a point when you were talking about Gajnabi, who just played a regional competition of six T20s and then three 50-over games. If she's not selected for the West Indies team, then she doesn't play again until the CPL begins. And that is not enough for an international cricketer. So we need to find ways for them to play outside [the region].
You think back to Jannillea Glasgow and Shanisha Hector, amongst other girls, who were given the opportunity to go to Australia for a season. You’ve seen how it helped Glasgow. I'm not saying it's all because she went to Australia, but she would have gotten the opportunity to play more games, and this was when she was not in the West Indies setup. She came right out of Tasmania and got back into the team. And now she's scoring runs. I believe it helped that she got the opportunity to play a few more games than the other girls.
If they don't have international commitments, they need to be playing cricket. Going back home to train is not going to be enough. I strongly believe they need to play men’s cricket as well. If you examine the players historically who have been our best, especially the batters, they all played against men. Whenever there’s time, both those coming through the ranks and those already in the senior side should. It’ll give them a greater challenge, and it’s likely to speed up their development.
