West Indies might have had a poor start to their chase of 339-run against England in the third and final series-deciding Test at Old Trafford in Manchester, but head coach Phil Simmons is optimistic about his batsmen that they will chase the target to defend the Wisden Trophy.
However, Simmons insisted that he would put pressure on his batsmen to score hundreds since the tourists have not scored enough centuries in the ongoing Test series, and he feels if someone can hang in there on Day 4, it can make all the difference against England in Manchester.
After England declared their innings on 226/2 to set a total of 399 for the Windies to win the final Test, the tourists have already lost their two wickets for just 10 runs and Simmons challenged his batsmen to chase the big target by showing great determination, as the series decider is in its fourth day and there will be a lot of time to bat since the Manchester wicket looks good to bat on.
Simmons told a news conference on Monday (July 26): “We haven’t had any centuries in this series so I’m always going to be putting pressure on them to go out there and get it. The wicket is still a good wicket to bat on, so they have to set themselves a target of getting a big score on this wicket. We’ve got to show that determination to get those big scores.”
Ignoring the weather forecast that suggests much of Monday’s play will be rained out, the coach added: “Tomorrow is only the fourth day so we’ve got a lot of time to bat.”
In the ongoing Test, England veterans Stuart Broad and James Anderson both have returned, making things difficult for the tourists and Simmons admitted that facing the duo in English conditions was a formidable prospect for his batsmen.
He signed off by saying, “Those bowlers -- one nearing 600 and the other 500 test wickets -- make things hard. Those guys keep coming at you, it’s relentless. But on these wickets here, we have shown we can score.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
