'Outplayed' West Indies knocked out of T20 World Cup

WEST INDIES cricket team coach Phil Simmons said his squad were "outplayed" by Ireland after a comfortable, comprehensive nine-wicket defeat at the Bellerive Oval, Hobart, Australia, on Friday.

The result meant the West Indies finished bottom of the four-team ICC T20 World Cup First Round Group B, and failed to advance to the Super 12 stage.

It was a humiliating end for the 2012 and 2016 champs, who did not progress beyond group stage at the 2021 edition, which was jointly staged in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

The West Indies started Group B with a 42-run spanking from Scotland, but rebounded with a 31-run victory over Zimbabwe.

West Indies, Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe all entered the day on two points apiece, but the WI's result meant that Ireland, and Zimbabwe (who defeated Scotland by five wickets in the latter match on Friday) progressed to the Super 12s.

In Friday's match, the West Indies batsmen were restricted to a score of 148 runs for five wickets, courtesy of Brandon King's unbeaten 62 (48 balls, six fours and a six) and opener Johnson Charles' 24 (18 balls, three fours and a six). Leg-spinner and Man of the Match Gareth Delany took three wickets for 16 runs.

Ireland strolled to 150/1 off 17.3 overs in response, with the experienced Paul Stirling hitting 66 not out (48 balls, six fours and two sixes) and Lorcan Tucker 45 not out (35 balls, two fours and two sixes).

Captain Andy Balbirnie contributed 37 (23 balls, three fours and three sixes) as he put on 73 for the opening wicket with Stirling. Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein got the lone wicket to fall, but he conceded 38 runs off his four overs.

During the post-game media conference, Simmons said, "I think when you sum it up, we were outplayed in all departments today. They bowled well. We batted well at the start, but didn't carry on, and they just batted well and batted us out of the game."

The former TT and West Indies all-rounder added, "We've got to go back and look at our structure and how we play the game and make sure that when we come to competitions and when we play in bilateral series we are ready and able to do what's necessary for each situation of the game."

Simmons, who was hired in a four-year deal on October, 2019, and his technical staff will surely be under the microscope: since their miserable campaign at the 2021 T20 World Cup, the West Indies have lost 18 out of 27 T20 Internationals.

Simmons and his fellow selector Desmond Haynes will also have to deal with questions from the ardent West Indies fans, in light of their decision to recall opening batsman Evin Lewis (who was reluctant to do a mandatory fitness test) and select Yannic Cariah, who has not played a domestic T20 match for many years.

Lewis scored 42 runs from three games and Cariah did not play a match in the first round.

Finally, the West Indies batting stats tell their own story: King was the leading run-scorer, with 79, followed by Charles (69). Of the "big names," vice-captain Rovman Powell tallied 39, Kyle Mayers 34 and captain Nicholas Pooran 25.

Pooran, who took over from the retired Kieron Pollard in April, has a record of four wins from 15 games. With the bat, he has compiled 234 runs from 14 innings at an average of 18.