MUMBAI, India, CMC – Head coach Phil Simmons believes West Indies victory over England in their opening game of the Twenty20 World Cup, has laid the foundation for their progress to the semi-finals.
The Caribbean side whipped England by six wickets with 11 balls to spare on Wednesday at the Wankhede Stadium here, to make an emphatic start to the competition.
“The way the tournament is set up, winning your first game is always going to be huge and I think the run rate at the end of the day [is going to be important],” Simmons told reporters.
“I think we won [the game] with a lot of balls to spare and I think those things could come into play in deciding the two teams that go forward.”
Sent in, England rattled up 180 for six of their 20 overs, with Joe Root top-scoring with 48 and seamers Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo picking up two wickets apiece.
In reply, West Indies were powered by a brilliant, unbeaten even hundred by Chris Gayle as they reached their target with 11 balls to spare.
“It was great to see the way how we played. One-eighty is a par score for this ground and we tried to make sure that they didn’t go much past that,” Simmons explained.
“I was happy to see how things went in the field too. The batting will take care of itself but what we do in the field is going to help us win this tournament.”
He added: “I think that last three overs and the first six we gave away a little bit too many but we started well and down in the end the ball started to get slippery and it was hard, but we really can’t complain about how we did in the field.”
The main talking point was Gayle’s innings, however. He crunched five fours and 11 sixes to score his second Twenty20 International hundred, becoming the first player to score two T20 World Cup centuries.
Gayle was kept quiet initially as Marlon Samuels dominated with a cameo 37 but once his fellow Jamaican departed, he took control of the innings.
Simmons said the ease with which Gayle batted was reflected in the uncomplicated approach to the execution of his game.
“It’s as simple as you see it. It’s the first time I’m really with the T20 team since I’ve been back and from sitting and talking to him and trying to see how it works this out, it’s as simple as he makes it look out there,” Simmons said.
“He actually analyses it as simple as he does it. He practices hard, hits a lot of balls in the nets but he works it out just as he did [against England].”
Despite the dominant win, Simmons said West Indies needed to continue playing to their strengths.
“All teams have weaknesses but all teams have strengths, and if we use our strengths our strength negates our weakness, that’s how you win games,” he noted.
“All teams have weaknesses and it’s up to other teams to exploit our weaknesses like we exploit theirs.”
West Indies will face Sri Lanka in their second game on Sunday in Bangalore.
