Much-vaunted, highly-acclaimed Windies batters have gone flat: Badree

Dubai, Oct 29 (IANS) Former West Indies limited-overs spinner Samuel Badree has said that the much-vaunted and highly-acclaimed Caribbean batting unit had flattered to deceive, adding that no-one in the wildest dream would have expected the defending T20 World champions to fold up for 55 against England.

The famed West Indies batters, especially big hitters such as Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, have been off-colour, one of the key reasons for their dismal performance in their two 'Super 12' games so far.

"The much-vaunted and highly-acclaimed batting unit of the West Indies, with all of their superstars and all of their experience, has flattered to deceive so far at the T20 World Cup. No-one could have predicted or anticipated that type of collapse in the first game against England, to be all out for 55.

"Then in the second game against South Africa, they were in a position to get many more runs than the 143 they actually did, so again the batting was an issue. It's just a matter of their batters -- who are some of the best players in the world -- performing at the level they're capable of," said Badree, who played 52 T20Is, taking 56 wickets.

Badree felt that West Indies fan will never stop believing in their team, given that they still have three games remaining in Super 12s to reach the semifinals.

"The batters have played in so many World Cups and global T20 leagues that they can face the situation quite confidently, put it quickly behind them and move forward. The momentum that they desperately need, and that they will get once they win a game, could yet be enough to propel them to some sort of Championship charge."

West Indies take on Bangladesh in the next game later on Friday and a win could give them the momentum they need to make the last-four grade.

"They need that momentum quickly and with Bangladesh as the next challenge on Friday, they need to get the batting sorted -­ not necessarily in terms of personnel but getting the team educated on the batting plans," said Badree.

Badree pointed out that Lendl Simmons's strike-rate as an opener was an issue against South Africa in the last game. Simmons scored just 16 off 35 balls and Badree felt that with an explosive batter like Evin Lewis to give him company, the opener should have had a much higher strike-rate.

"I can kind of understand why Simmons batted in that sort of fashion, given the fact they were bowled out for 55 against England in the first match, and they probably asked him to play a certain role but that was way too slow by any stretch of imagination. It put a lot of pressure on the guys in the middle order, especially when Evin Lewis departed, but it can't be blamed solely on Simmons," said Badree.

"With the start that Lewis gave them, scoring 56 off 35 balls, and given the quality of the West Indies batting line-up, everyone else should have done much better. That 143 for eight should have easily been at least 165," Badree wrote in his column for the International Cricket Council.