Bridgetown (Barbados), April 1 (IANS/CMC) West Indies captain Darren Sammy has warned Australia to expect more of his side’s fighting spirit when the three-Test series kicks off here next weekend.
He was speaking Friday after West Indies produced another sensational effort to beat the Aussies by 14 runs and tie the two-match Twenty20 series 1-1.
The performance was the latest show of resilience, a quality that came to the fore when they fought back during the preceding five-match one-day series to earn a 2-2 tie.
“Two and two, one and one. I think one-all in the Test series would be a perfect result for the home series,” Sammy quipped.
“We now have the belief in the team that we can compete and win against top-ranked teams.
“We are going to carry that same mentality towards the Tests. That is what we have got to keep telling the boys, once we believe, we can achieve. We are going to play fearless cricket when we are at home.”
West Indies bowled off the one-day series badly, slumping to a disappointing 64-run loss in the first match of the triple-header in St. Vincent.
They stormed back to win the second match by five wickets, carved out a dramatic tie in the third when they appeared dead to rights, before winning the fourth match by 42 runs.
The regional side then lost back-to-back matches – the fifth ODI by 30 runs and the first T20 by eight wickets – but Friday’s outing again displayed their tenacity.
“From the start of the series, we all know how the Australians play and we decided from the time we went to India (last year) we were going to play fearless cricket and that is the same thing we did in this competition,” Sammy explained.
“We are going to stand up to them if they stand up to us. It was very good to see our boys showing fight and heart out there.”
Friday at Kensington Oval, West Indies suffered a bad collapse, slumping from 110 for two to 160 all out as they lost their last eight wickets for 50 runs.
Australia were running away with the game at 64 for one in the eighth over until the Windies hit back strongly to restrict them to 146 for nine.
Sammy said the turning point of the game was the run-out of dangerous opener David Warner.
He was punishing the Windies bowlers with five fours and three sixes in his 43-ball 58 when he was brilliantly run out by Dwayne Bravo’s direct throw from mid-on.
“That was the game changer right there. Warner was batting really, really well and that is something Bravo is used to doing,” Sammy explained.
“He is an impact player and … he had a big impact with that run out and from there the momentum just shifted. We kept pushing at them and we won in the end which was good for us.”
–IANS/CMC
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