Jitters turn to joy for West Indies match-winner Simmons
By Sudipto Ganguly
MUMBAI (Reuters) - West Indies match-winner Lendl Simmons said he felt jittery going into Thursday's World Twenty20 semi-final against India at the Wankhede Stadium.
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The 31-year-old was only called into the squad on Tuesday as a replacement for injured all-rounder Andre Fletcher.
"When I went out to bat I had a clear mind what I wanted to do because we had a plan," Simmons told reporters after his hard-hitting 82 not out helped West Indies reach their target of 193 with two balls to spare.
"Before the game I was a bit nervous ... I felt a bit of pressure on myself but it was good we had a target to chase."
West Indies had batted second in all their previous four matches in the tournament, losing just one game against rank outsiders Afghanistan.
India went into the game banking on their wily spinners to keep the explosive West Indian batsmen quiet but the evening dew wrecked their plans.
Ravichandran Ashwin bowled just two overs, giving away 20 runs, while left-armer Ravindra Jadeja conceded 48 in his four overs.
"It was a bad toss to lose," said Dhoni. "There was a considerable amount of dew which meant the spinners couldn't bowl how they would have liked.
"It was coming on nicely and the ball was getting wet so that was the difference between the first and second innings."
Dhoni has often used Suresh Raina's part-time off-spin to get through the middle overs but the conditions on Thursday meant he could not turn to him this time.
Earlier, West Indian Samuel Badree, the world's top-ranked T20 bowler, kept the home batsmen quiet with his accurate leg-spin as he claimed one for 26 in four overs.
"The spinners had some assistance...but as the dew comes in it becomes difficult for them to turn the ball," Dhoni said.
"The seam gets wet and the surface becomes a bit greasy so it comes on to the bat nicely. We have seen that our spinners do struggle in conditions like these."
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)