advertisement
The sight of a West Indian batsman stealing a cheeky single is a rarity in international cricket but skipper Darren Sammy does not mind as long as the fours and the sixes keep flowing from their bats.
The Caribbean side flexed their batting muscle to storm into the World Twenty20 final against England who they beat in a group stage match in Mumbai.
Sammy is aware of the criticism of his team’s poor strike rotation but believes the power-hitters can more than make up with big shots.
The semi-final against India illustrated Sammy’s point.
Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni ran themselves ragged in the game, stealing singles and converting ones into twos to help India post a strong 192-2.
As has often been the case, the West Indian batsmen dealt mostly in boundaries to chase down the target in the final over, smashing 20 fours and 11 sixes, compared to India’s 17 and four respectively.
“I think since the inception of Twenty20, you’ve seen West Indies is a boundary-hitting team so that’s no surprise for me,” said Sammy, who is seeking to become the first captain to lead a team to a second World Twenty20 title.
England have looked a vastly-improved side since that loss to West Indies but Sammy thinks his team will be unbeatable if they can play in the same manner.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)