Arriving here after losing all ODIs in the last 10 months, Darren Sammy's men should be proud of yesterday's performance against heavyweights South Africa, despite the loss
Arriving here after losing allu00a0ODIs in the last 10 months, Darren Sammy's men should be proud of yesterday's performance against heavyweights South Africa, despite the loss
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| West Indies' captain Darren Sammy (left) and a team official help bowler Darren Bravo off the field after he was injured while bowling against South Africa in New Delhi yesterday. pic/IMTIYAZ KHAN |
For a team that had failed to win a one-day international over the last 10 months and came to blows with one of the heavyweights in the ongoing World Cup, West Indies should be proud of their performance at the Feroz Shah Kotla here yesterday.
The scorecard might not quite indicate that, as South Africa romped home to a comfortable seven-wicket victory to begin their campaign on a high note, but there were a lot of positives that Darren Sammy's side can draw.
For starters, hostile bowling by the opening pair of Sulieman Benn and Kemar Roach, flamboyant batting of Dwayne Bravo's half brother, Darren, and some terrific catching at the slip cordon.
Put in to bat, the men from the Caribbean grabbed the initiative and began to dictate terms, but their inexperience meant they lacked the ability to sustain the tempo.
The Windies first suffered a mini collapse at the top as they slipped from 112-1 to 120-4. But they recovered strongly, thanks to the Bravo brothers who put on more than 100 runs between them.
Darren Bravo anchored the innings with a composed 73 (8x4, 1x6) while Dwayne hit a plucky 40 from 37 balls.
Veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul contributed a vital 31 as the trio pushed the score to 209-5 before Dale Steyn rocked them with a burst of 3-24.
Four wickets for four runs and the Windies were eventually shot out for 222.
Their pacemen then responded strongly and had the Proteas reduced to a tricky 20-2, but AB de Villiers' authoritative knock of 107 sealed their hopes.
Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir made a monumental impact on debut - finishing with figures of 4-41.
"It didn't spin much, but he (Tahir) bowled terrifically well. I wanted to use him in short spells, and he responded strongly. He picked up key wickets, made an impact every time he came into the attack. The other guys bowled well around him," skipper Graeme Smith said.
"Everything I envisaged before this game seemed to work. Johan Botha got Chris Gayle out early. Having three spinners worked in our favour and AB (de Villiers) played a fantastic knock. This was the ideal start."
Having missed a few run-out chances of de Villiers, West Indies skipper Sammy conceded that his side missed plenty of half chances.
"We were looking good for 270 plus, but threw away the initiative. We created opportunities but didn't captialise on them. De Villiers batted like how a senior batsman should and brought South Africa home. The biggest positive was (Darren) Bravo's batting," he said.
