Pollard laments Windies' lack of form at T20 World Cup

JELANI BECKLES

WEST Indies have one of the strongest teams on paper in the International Cricket Council T20 World Cup tournament, but captain Kieron Pollard said West Indies must start to justify that talent by delivering with performances on the field.

West Indies will have to defeat Sri Lanka on Thursday and Australia on Saturday in their final preliminary match to keep their chances alive of qualifying for the semifinals out of group one.

The match between West Indies and Sri Lanka bowls off at 10 am (TT time) in Abu Dhabi.

Two convincing victories will help West Indies improve their net run rate and stay alive in the semifinal race. West Indies will also hope other results go their way in order to qualify.

After three matches, West Indies have a record of one win and two losses.

Pollard is hoping to be fit for the Sri Lanka match after picking up a left thigh injury in the last match against Bangladesh.

Pollard, speaking with the media on Wednesday, said, “What will be key is that every individual play their roles…I think it is just a matter of guys doing that.”

Pollard said the batsmen need to show their pedigree.

“As one person mentioned before we have a very good team on paper, but not being able to play our role and not taking responsibility and not being accountable to what the team requires at that point of time from a batting perspective (is costing us)…we have not done justice to our talents and there is no secret about it.”

Against England, West Indies were bundled out for 55 in 14.2 overs which led to a six-wicket defeat for the regional team.

West Indies scored a modest 143/8 batting first in an eight-wicket loss to South Africa in their second contest, before grabbing a three-run win when they restricted Bangladesh to 139/5 after posting 142/7.

England are almost guaranteed a spot in the semifinals after winning their first four matches in group one.

West Indies are battling for the second and final spot along with South Africa and Australia. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the other teams in group one, have no chance of qualifying for the semifinals.

Pollard said the team is upbeat despite the inconsistent start.

“I think the mindset is good. From what we have seen the last couple days and even before the last game against Bangladesh and the way the guys have actually prepared and done incredible things in that aspect of it I think the mood has not dropped.”

The Windies skipper said the players will keep fighting for better results.

“I could safely say that things have not gone the way we would have liked, but the pride that these guys have obviously they still want to come out and give a good account of themselves.”

Pollard knows the fans will not be pleased.

“Overall as a team yes we are all disappointed, obviously most of the fans are disappointed with the position that we are in as a team and it is something that we accept, but we have an opportunity in a couple of games to try to finish the tournament on a high.”

Pollard said the job is to win the two remaining preliminary matches and hope that it will be enough to qualify for the semifinals.

GROUP ONE STANDINGS

Team*GP*W*L*Pts*NRR

England*4*4*0*8*3.183

South Africa*4*3*1*6*0.742

Australia*3*2*1*4*-0.627

Sri Lanka*4*1*3*2*-0.590

West Indies*3*1*2*2*-1.598

Bangladesh*4*0*4*0*-1.435