Gros Islet (St Lucia), Jun 20 (IANS): West Indies captain Rovman Powell lamented missed opportunities and straying from their plans as his side suffered an eight-wicket defeat against England in their Super Eight match at the T20 World Cup 2024 in Gros Islet.
Chasing a challenging target of 181, England cruised to victory with Phil Salt remaining unbeaten on 87 and Jonny Bairstow contributing a rapid 48 not out off 26 balls. Their unbroken partnership of 97 off 44 balls sealed the win with 2.3 overs to spare.
Reflecting on the match, Powell acknowledged that his team left runs on the table and didn't execute their bowling plans effectively. "You have to look at it from a batting perspective. We left 15-20 runs out there as a batting group," Powell said. "I will say that we should have put up a better display as a bowling group. We are normally very good in the last five overs, but credit has to be given to the England bowling unit. They had clear plans, and the execution was good."
West Indies' innings started promisingly, but they couldn't capitalise fully in the death overs. The missteps continued in the field as they offered lives to Salt and Moeen Ali, with wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran unable to hold on to thin deflections on both occasions. These dropped chances proved costly as Salt, who has a liking against West Indies, made them pay once again.
"Those chances are always difficult," Powell admitted. "But credit has to be given to Phil, he seems to like playing against West Indies. Every time he plays against West Indies, he always hurts us. We strayed away a little bit from our plans to Phil. It's just for us to look back at those plans and re-evaluate."
Despite the loss, Powell remains optimistic about West Indies' chances in the tournament. He emphasised the importance of sticking to their strategies and improving their execution in the upcoming matches. The captain is hopeful that Johnson Charles, who suffered a side strain, to be available for the next two matches.
"Our destiny is in our hands. Once we win well, it will bring us back. We are playing good cricket. We need to re-evaluate. Hopefully, King can pull through for the next two games."
West Indies will now take on the USA in Bridgetown on Saturday.