In their opening match of the T20 World Cup 2022 Qualifiers, Scotland handed the West Indies team a crushing 42-run defeat on Monday (October 18). The two-time champions will now face Zimbabwe on Wednesday (October 20) in a must-win encounter.
West Indies coach expressed his disappointment and urged the team to ‘wake up’ before the Zimbabwe clash.
Scotland posted a decent total of 160/5, with opener George Munsey top-scoring (66* off 53 balls) after being given the opportunity to bat first.
In reply, the West Indies team was bundled out for just 118. It was a listless display as seven batters were dismissed before they could reach double digits.
“Our batting definitely was a bit unprofessional. We need to wake up and start being as professional as we can be when we are batting,” Simmons said in the post-match media conference.
“The bowlers seem to be working hard and putting us in good positions, but the batters continue to falter,” he added.
SEE ALSO: WATCH – Virat Kohli, Babar Azam bat together in nets ahead of India-Pakistan clash
Simmons further said that losing wickets at regular intervals was one of the reasons that cost his side the match.
“It’s just too many soft dismissals. I think as batsmen you have to pay a lot more attention to your wicket. Every time, we play we are up there with the run rate.”
“Losing wickets at regular intervals was one of the primary reason for this defeat.
“It doesn’t matter who we are playing against, but we keep losing wickets and soft wickets. So I think that I’ve been trying to remedy it for the last couple of months. Doesn’t seem like it’s there yet.”
The coach praised his team's bowling, noting it had been excellent, particularly in the middle overs.
“The bowlers have been doing an excellent job. I think if we look at the stats and the data if we know we’re 7 to 15, we’ve been doing very well for the last year.
“So for them to pull it back after that it was expected from us. So I think they did a great job,” he said.
When asked about the Super 12 stage, he remarked saying that the first step was to beat Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
“We need to beat Zimbabwe first. That’s the first step as we go along. When we get back here at this time on Wednesday, then we may be thinking a lot different on all those things you spoke about.”
The 59-year-old asserted that the Nicholas Pooran-led side will reach the Super 12 stage while citing the example of Bangladesh.
“It was last year, Bangladesh lost the first game and they still ended up in the Super 12. So we’ve just got to think about Zimbabwe right now,” he said.
He continued by saying that a day off will give them the time to reassess, and reevaluate their plans for the next game.
“A day tomorrow to just rest and reflect on how things went, what we have to change, and how we have to think in the next game.
“Someone said, we’ve been out there; we’ve been hitting balls. We’ve been practicing scenarios. We’ve been thinking about it. It’s now to put it into play,” he concluded.
(PTI INPUTS)
