Strauss bemoans England’s lack of bat power
England captain Andrew Strauss blamed poor batting for his side’s
defeat in their Twenty20 International against West Indies on Sunday.
England were dismissed for a paltry 121 in 19.1 overs at Queen’s Park
Oval and lost the match by six wickets.
“Pretty obviously (we lost it) with the bat - you don’t win too many
Twenty20s having scored 121,” he said.
“We lost wickets too regularly and we weren’t smart enough with our
batting on a pitch that held up a bit.
He added: “We weren’t ever able to put pressure on the West Indies
with the ball. It’s just disappointing the way we batted.
“If we had got to 150 - that would have been a decent score. It
definitely wasn’t an easy pitch on which to play your shots, but if we
had just been a bit smarter and kept a few more wickets in hand then we
probably would have got closer to that score.”
Denesh Ramdin led the West Indies in the absence of the injured Chris
Gayle, and admitted it was difficult keeping wicket and leading the side
at the same.
“Looking at Twenty20 around the world, you have to be prepared to
change around your bowlers, and make it difficult for batsmen to get
accustomed to the conditions, and knowing what to do, and when to do it
was quite difficult,” he said.
“You have to be on the ball all of the time. It was a lot of
pressure, but I believe I coped with it well. Hopefully, Chris will be
back for the ODIs though, and our side will be back to full strength.”
Ramnaresh Sarwan earned the man-of-the-match award for 59 from 46 balls
to continue the fine form that made him the leading run-scorer in the
preceding five-Test series which was also won by the home side.
“I’m pretty pleased with the way I have been batting, but I was more
pleased about the way we played,” said Sarwan who opened the batting.
“The guys really bowled well and fielded well. Hopefully, we can
continue to perform these areas of the game well in the ODIs, and it was
important for us to win this match because it’s basically the start of
the limited-overs matches.”
The two teams will now contest a five-match one-day international
series with matches in Guyana (March 20 and 22), Barbados (March 27 and
29), and St. Lucia (April 3).
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Monday, AFP
ENGLAND
R. Bopara b Baker 13
S. Davies b Bravo 27
K. Pietersen lbw b Benn 12
O. Shah c Pollard b Benn 6
P. Collingwood c Simmons b Sammy 14
A. Strauss run out (Chanderpaul) 22
D. Mascarenhas run out (Sarwan) 0
G. Batty run out (Sarwan) 4
S. Broad c Benn b Edwards 2
A. Khan b Benn 2
J. Anderson not out 0
EXTRAS: (lb7, w12) 19
TOTAL: (all out; 19.1 overs) 121
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-25 (Bopara), 2-55 (Davies), 3-66 (Pietersen), 4-82 (Shah), 5-95 (Collingwood),
6-98 (Mascarenhas), 7-114 (Strauss), 8-117 (Batty), 9-121 (Khan), 10-121 (Broad)
BOWLING: Edwards 3.1-0-18-1; Baker 2-0-12-1; Sammy 4-0-14-1; Bravo 4-0-34-1 (w3); Benn 4-0-24-3 (w1); Pollard 2-0-12-0
WEST INDIES
A. Fletcher c Mascarenhas b Broad 6
R. Sarwan b Khan 59
S. Chanderpaul c Collingwood b Anderson 12
L. Simmons not out 23
D. Bravo c Pietersen b Khan 8
K. Pollard not out 4
EXTRAS: (b1, lb1, w9) 11
TOTAL (4 wkts; 18 overs) 123
Did not bat: D. Ramdin (capt), D. Sammy, S. Benn, F. Edwards, L. Baker
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-11 (Fletcher), 2-45 (Chanderpaul), 3-105 (Sarwan), 4-119 (Bravo)
Bowling: Anderson 3-0-19-1 (w3); Broad 3-0-26-1 (w3); Khan 4-0-34-2 (w2); Batty 3-0-17-1 (w1); Mascarenhas 4-0-17-0; Collingwood 1-0-8-0 |
