World T20 Champions West Indies will look to put on a show when they face Australia in a one-off Twenty20 International on Wednesday night. The Windies have found the going tough on the ongoing tour and will look to get their first victory in the upcoming match at the Gabba. First ball is 6:35 pm (4:35 am Eastern Caribbean Time/3:35 am Jamaica Time).
Skipper Darren Sammy made no secret about it when he said the team is “going all out for a win”, as they look to repeat the kind of performances when they won the ICC World T20 Tournament in Sri Lanka last October. In that tournament they beat Australia in the semi-finals and went on to defeat Sri Lanka in the final at the R Premadasa Stadium.
“We have to come in and play like true champions. We are the World Champions and we want to showcase our skills and show the people of Australia what we have. We have not demonstrated that a lot on this tour so we have to look to put it together on Wednesday,” Sammy said.
“We have an opportunity to finish the tour on a high. We did the job very well in Sri Lanka last year. The last time we played against Australia in this format we completely outplayed them so that is the kind of motivation we will carry into the match. I know the boys are definitely looking forward to it and I know we will dust off the One-Dayers and play like world champions.”
Sammy added: “The people over here in Australia have been very supportive of us and we have not demonstrated our very best cricket for them to see, so we want to give them something special before we head back home.”
Looking back at the ODI Series, Sammy noted that the West Indies failed to win the “50-50 moments” and that cost them dearly. However, he was full of praise for fast bowler Tino Best, who bowled with good pace and got four wickets in his two matches; and opener Johnson Charles, who made 100 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground – his maiden international century.
“Australia played very well throughout the series and we didn’t play very at our very best and the results told us so. Tino bowled really well in the two matches he played. As he said he was on ‘six cylinders’ and got some good wickets for us.”
He said of Charles: “For a young guy who has been under pressure, to come out and score his first hundred at the MCG, that was really great and I would like to commend him on the way he played. He played well from start to finish of the innings and we hope he can continue from his point.”
The West Indies will have a full training session at the Gabba on Tuesday morning.
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