Hope: Sammy believes Windies have elite tools

WEST Indies captain Shai Hope said coach Daren Sammy has brought more self-belief to the players.

The regional team will battle Nepal in their second match of the International Cricket Council World Cup qualification tournament in Harare, Zimbabwe at 3 am (TT time) on Thursday.

West Indies defeated US by 39 runs in their opening Group A match on Sunday.

West Indies posted 297 in 49.3 overs behind half-centuries from Johnson Charles (66), Jason Holder (56), Roston Chase (55) and Hope (54).

In reply, US were limited to 258/7 in 50 overs. Medium pacer Kyle Mayers and fast bowler Alzarri Joseph grabbed 2/30 and 2/68 respectively.

Speaking to the media on the eve of the match against Nepal, Hope said Sammy has brought his energy to the team.

“The main focus has been really on the mindset,” Hope said.

“We know we have a lot of talent in the Caribbean and players tend to come from grassroot level and just to be naturally good, but the main thing is to build that mindset to be more positive and understand that we have the assets that we need to be an elite team...he is really giving us that positive vibe that we have asked for."

Hope highlighted the areas West Indies can improve on and knows fans thought the team should have been more convincing against US.

“For us I can understand the concern looking on from outside, but we have to play what we see, we have to play the day. Some days other teams will obviously give us a more challenging fight.

"But I can’t say that we need to worry too much about that game. That game is in the past, we need to look ahead. We need to make sure we play more clinical games…but that is in the past. Let us learn from the mistakes that we made in the last game and move on.”

Leg spinner Yannic Cariah, who was impressive during the warm-up matches, is still injured.

Hope said the middle-order batting is crucial to the team’s success.

“I think the middle order has been the biggest concern for us of late, but again, all of our batters need to pull their weight. We need to take full responsibility with the bat and give our bowlers the best opportunity to finish games. Again, if we get a good start with the two openers batting the entire innings, then we don’t have to worry about the middle, but like I said, we have to take full responsibility as a batting group to make sure we get those big totals on the board, and if we chasing, to score the runs in a more convincing manner.”