West Indies Head coach, Phil Simmons has reiterated the importance of West Indies batsmen becoming more tactically aware during the middle overs, following the 3-2 series defeat by South Africa in the 5th Twenty/0 International in Grenada last Saturday.
Despite having a team packed with power-hitters, they were 25 runs short of the 169 set by South Africa.
West Indies batsmen excelled in the power-plays but stumbled in the middle overs, leaving Simmons also bemoaning the thought process of his players at that critical stage of the game.
Simmons said: “We’ve got to think a little bit more. We’ve got to be smarter in our cricket, smarter especially in those seven to 14overs.”
West Indies hinted at their capabilities when they scored the required 161 runs with five overs to spare in the 1st Twenty/20, but then faltered in pursuit of 167 in the second, and 168 in the third, to be beaten by 16 runs and 1 run respectively.
The problem is in both defeats was the high number of dot balls. The West Indies conceding 55 in the second match and 49 in the third, and another 50 last Saturday.
Simons said that while the bowling had been impressive during the series, especially on good batting pitches, the batting needed to step up.
Several high-profile players struggled for form during the series, including veteran left-hander, Chris Gayle who managed 56 runs from four innings, to follow up a lean series against Sri Lanka last March where he managed only 29 runs from three innings.
Left-hander Nicholas Pooran also failed for the second straight series while opener Lendl Simmons again lacked consistency.
However, Simmons said that personnel changes had not yet been considered.
