Seales anticipates clinical Windies for second ODI against New Zealand

The West Indies will be seeking to level their three-match One-Day International series against New Zealand when the second encounter bowls off later on Tuesday. While Sunday’s narrow seven-run defeat was the Caribbean side’s seventh in their last ten outings, fast-bowler Jayden Seales believes the loss was self-inflicted.

The 24-year-old suggested the Windies bowlers could have left the batters a smaller target to chase. “We could have tried to restrict them for less than 269,” Seales said. He shared a particularly pointed assessment of their execution, stating, “I think we had too many missed chances in the field and probably didn't use the dimensions of the ground as best as we could have.”

If his comments sound familiar, it might be because they are similar to the concerns voiced by Head Coach Daren Sammy following West Indies’ most recent series defeat to Bangladesh. After the 2-1 loss, Sammy accused his bowlers of “allowing Bangladesh to score above par” throughout the series.

Even as the West Indies failed to utilize the conditions in Christchurch, they will have new ones to contend with as the series moves to McLean Park in Napier. Seales says they are aware of the challenge the constant change in venues has brought. “We obviously have our own plans going into the game, but once the pitch is looking different or if there’s a strong wind factor—like the last match—we have to formulate plans to get them to play where we want,” he said.

Still, the West Indies came within touching distance of victory. And this magnified the especially slow batting from their top order, with opener Alick Athanaze scoring a 58-ball 29 and Keacy Carty needing 67 balls for his 32. Seales thinks a better start with the bat can make all the difference in the second encounter. “[We need to] find a way to rotate the strike a bit better and just capitalize when they give us the bad balls, and we should be all right to win the second one,” he said simply.

The West Indies won’t have match-winning centurion Daryl Mitchell to contend with for the remainder of the series owing to a groin strain. The second ODI bowls off at 9 PM in the Eastern Caribbean and 8 PM in Jamaica.