"Eventually the cricket gods will catch up with you" - Daren Sammy chastises West Indies' fielding in defeat to Zimbabwe at the World Cup Qualifiers
West Indies Head Coach Daren Sammy did not mince words in criticizing the team's shoddy fielding and catching in their 35-run defeat against Zimbabwe at Harare. The crucial fixture, featuring the two unbeaten teams from Group A, saw the hosts being put into bat first on a belter of a pitch.
The visitors had Zimbabwe on the ropes at 112-4 but dropped star all-rounder Sikandar Raza twice, on 1 and 7, enabling the 37-year-old to play a match-winning knock of 68 off 58 deliveries. West Indies also missed more chances, along with several other lapses during their lackadaisical fielding display.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, a visibly upset Daren Sammy said:
"Extremely disappointed. At the toss, we got to do what we wanted to do, which is to bowl first. Look, if we continue to display this type of fielding - we've spoken about it for the last few games - and if you keep giving the opposition's best batters chances, eventually the cricket gods will catch up with you."
He added:
"And it did with us today, but [a target of] 269 on that surface… Again, these are the things we're trying to change. We've seen it happen in the past before and the direction that I want this team to move forward…Today was really poor and it's about taking responsibility and we didn't do that today. And hence we didn't deserve to win at all today."
Zimbabwe got off to a solid start, adding 63 for the opening wicket but lost three relatively quick wickets to be reduced to 90-3 in the 22nd over.
At 112-4, it appeared like the men from the Caribbean would restrict Zimbabwe to a low score. But star all-rounder Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl had a crucial 87-run partnership for the fifth wicket to help the hosts reach a competitive total of 268.
In reply, several West Indian batters, including Kyle Mayers, Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran, and Roston Chase, got off to starts but did not capitalize. Eventually, they were bowled out for 233 in the 45th over to lose their first game of the World Cup Qualifiers.
"It makes it more difficult" - Daren Sammy on West Indies' World Cup qualification chances
Head Coach Daren Sammy remained upbeat about the West Indies' chances of qualifying for the 50-over World Cup later this year despite the shocking defeat to Zimbabwe at Harare on June 24.
Being among the favorites entering the World Cup Qualifiers, the loss puts them in a dire situation of potentially having to win all their Super Six matches.
"I wouldn't say it hampers [our qualification] but it makes it more difficult," Sammy said. "You'd love to go into the Super Six with four points. We knew from the time we left home that this game would've been very important to us. And again, like I said, the way we've played… I kept telling the guys that we kept on winning games [by] not playing our best cricket. Today again, we asked so much of ourselves."
"When you put on a display of fielding like this and then you get yourself in a good position and take the game for granted, the cricket gods will make you pay and that's exactly what I'm going to tell them in the dressing room. We did not deserve to win, and we did not play to win today and now we have a lot of work to do - firstly to get to the Super Six and take on the other teams that we face," he added.
Zimbabwe will now carry four points to the Super Six stage thanks to wins against the other two Super Six qualifying teams from the group, Netherlands and West Indies.
Meanwhile, the West Indies will have to beat the Netherlands on Monday to carry forward at least two points to the Super Six stage.