DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC – Captain Darren Sammy yesterday reminded Australia that “talk is cheap” and said West Indies preferred to do its business on the pitch.
He was speaking after producing a scintillating knock of 34 not out to propel the Caribbean side to an exciting six-wicket over the Aussies in the World Twenty20 Championship.
The build up to the game was marked by a controversial comment from seamer James Faulkner who said he did not “particularly like” the West Indies.
Incidentally, it was Faulkner who suffered at Sammy’s hands, smashed for two sixes with the Windies needing 12 to win off the last over.
“Talk is cheap. Cricket is a game of action and you can talk all you want, it’s the action that happens on the field that matters and West Indies acted today and it fields very good to come home [with the win],” Sammy told a media conference after the victory.
“It was not an easy win but we fought for it and that win will definitely do good things. I guess Faulkner won’t like us anymore.”
He added: “I didn’t care who it was bowling [the last over], we just knew we had to get 12 runs but it makes you feel even better when it is the guy who was talking a lot before the game.
“He bowled some very good yorkers but I stayed low and I got under the ball, which was what I wanted. It is just a good feeling. We needed a win, it was a crucial match for both teams. We held our nerve under pressure better than them and we are very happy with the result.”
Australia piled up a challenging 178 for eight, requiring West Indies to pull off their most successful run chase in T20 Internationals in order to win.
Opener Chris Gayle unleashed at the top with 53 off 35 balls while Lendl Simmons got 26. When West Indies lost their way in the middle overs, Sammy smashed two fours and three sixes off just 13 balls, adding an invaluable 49 runs off 21 balls for the fifth wicket with one-day captain Dwayne Bravo whose unbeaten 27 came from 12 deliveries.
Sammy said the pre-game discussion had been about how to put Australia under pressure, and not about Faulkner’s comments.
“We discussed the way we were going to play them. We decided we were going to come hard at them. We know they’re a team that once we put them under pressure, most time when the pressure is on they don’t respond quite well. That’s why Gayle from the first over from Starc went after him, that’s the kind of pressure we’re talking about,” Sammy explained.
“We don’t talk about the cricket. Cricket is played out there in the middle and that’s what we were focussing on. We did make mention of how they had been talking and used it as motivation to come out and play the game we did. I thought they got a good score but we were extra motivated to go out there and chase it.”
Despite the victory, their second on the trot following their opening loss to India, West Indies are not yet assured of a semi-final spot and Sammy said the side was already focussing on their final preliminary game against Pakistan next Tuesday.
“We’re going to celebrate this win for today alone. We’ve not won the tournament. It’s just that playing against Australia and the build up towards this game [made the win important],” he noted.
“We will celebrate this win but come [April 1st], we’re going to focus on Pakistan which is another crucial game for us.”
