WI vs AUS (Source: @cricketcomau/X.com)
It turned out to be nothing but disappointment for the host West Indian side, as they were thrashed by Australia in the five-match T20I series. Ending up on the wrong side of the spectrum, the Caribbean side lost all five games.
Hope Calls For More Complete Games With The Bat
In what turned out to be a disastrous series for the West Indian side, led by skipper Shai Hope, the right-handed batter, who also smashed a ton during one of the games, spoke about his side's fate in this competition.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Hope lamented his side's inability to bat properly during the 20 overs, while mentioning that to be able to compete against a team like Australia, they have to be at their very best, which wasn't the case in these five games.
"I just didn't think we put together a proper batting display. We either started well and finished poorly or the other way around. When you're playing against quality opposition like Australia, you've got to put things together for a more complete game,"
The fact that the West Indies were incompetent with the bat in the first three games, as they failed to put up massive scores on the board, that too after they started off brilliantly but followed a similar pattern, getting not anywhere near what was predicted in the first 10 overs of the game, as their middle order collapsed more often than not.
Shai Hope Feels Losing Tosses Didn't Help Their Cause
The disaster saw them getting whitewashed, losing five-zero. Hope then revealed that they lost tosses in all five games, which didn't help their cause, as they lost all the games while defending, which, according to him, is one of the major reasons why they looked incompetent.
Hope put emphasis on the stats, that in the Caribbean, it is always better to chase, which is why Australia, after winning the toss in all five matches, opted to field first, as WI couldn't defend in either of the games.
"I think here in the Caribbean, we all know the stats show chasing is always the better thing to do. Whether it's the dew factor, wind factor, you always have that scoreboard in front of you, so you have an idea of how to go about the chase. But it's something that I can't control. Unfortunately, I didn't win any [tosses]. It's just one of those things for us,"
Hope, after putting the blame on the tosses, then commented on his side's bowling effort and praised them for their grit with the ball, as he believes that they didn't have enough runs on the board to defend, but their bowling should be commended for putting in some hard yards.
"I still must commend the guys for the effort that they showed in the back end, to give ourselves a chance to win the game. But once you don't have that many runs on the board, then you [have] got to hope everything goes perfectly in the field. It just didn't happen for us."
The 5th T20I of the series saw Australia winning by three wickets as they chased down 171 with ease in just 17 overs and completed a perfect whitewash over the hosts. The Caribbean side will next be up against Pakistan in a three-match T20I and ODI series beginning July 31st.
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