Lendl Simmons has warned England that West Indies are not a one-man show, as both sides head to Kolkata for a final to decide who will be the first team to win two World Twenty20 trophies.
Simmons, who dropped into the tournament a few days ago to replace the injured Andre Fletcher, played a match-winning hand of 82, off 51 balls, as West Indies overhauled India’s 192 to knock the hosts out of the tournament.
He enjoyed some lavish good fortune. He was caught twice off no-balls (on 18 and 50) and then, on 68, it looked as if Ravi Jadeja and Virat Kohli had combined well for a relay catch on the edge of the boundary. However, replays showed that Jadeja was in contact with the sponge with the ball still in his hand and a six was given instead.
While there were solid contributions from Johnson Charles (52) and Andre Russell (43), Chris Gayle managed only five. His six-ball innings was a far cry from the devastating 100 off 48 deliveries that made England’s total of 182, also at the Wankhede Stadium, look like a minor inconvenience in their opening Super 10 group game. Simmons sees this performance as a warning shot.
“England will be aware that there’s not a one-man show in this team,” he said. “Chris Gayle didn’t get off tonight, but we still managed to get over the line and chase a big total. It shows a lot of character from our players.”
Simmons was also keen to highlight that West Indies did not need to call on Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy or Carlos Brathwaite to see off India. A testament, Simmons believes, to their “batting power”. No target is safe.
“Every one of our players are match-winners in our team. And with the batting that we have I think any total that anyone makes we can chase it. We always back ourselves to chase totals.”
He was quick to stop himself from getting carried away. As impressive as the win against India was, it was on a good batting track, at a ground where chasing is the norm. It was here that England chased a world record 230 to beat South Africa. Eden Gardens will be a different prospect. Many expect the pitch to take spin and that is not something West Indies deal with particularly well.
“We shouldn’t be over–confident,” Simmons said. “On the day, it’ll be about which team plays better. We have to go to Kolkata and analyse the situation of the game. The conditions will be different, I’m sure. It won’t be the perfect batting track like we got at Mumbai. The ball was turning in Kolkata. We have to see how it goes on Sunday.”
If anything, England may perhaps have the upper hand going into the final, having spent a week in Delhi, playing and training at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. While a decent batting track, it also took turn and is perhaps a more similar wicket to the one at Eden Gardens than the road at Mumbai.
