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Top-order issues have led to downfall – Brathwaite
- Updated: September 27, 2016
West Indies T20 captain Carlos Brathwaite has pointed out that top-order issues have been the major worry for them in the two matches against Pakistan in Dubai. West Indies were reduced to 17 for 4 in the first T20, before being bowled out for 115, and were tottering at 19 for 3 while chasing 161 in the second T20. They lost both matches and now the teams move to Abu Dhabi for the third T20 on Tuesday.
“The one glaring thing I can see [that went wrong in the first two matches] is the batting, especially top-order batting,” Brathwaite said on Monday. “We haven’t been making the most of the first six overs with only two fielders out. And then it became harder and harder…in the first game we had five wickets down. And then chasing 160 and [being] only 20-odd after the first six, it’s going to be a lot more difficult especially with such huge boundaries. So our top-order batting and the misuse of the first six overs was our downfall in the first two games.”
Their top three batsmen – Johnson Charles, Evin Lewis and Andre Fletcher – fell for low scores, leaving much of the work for the middle and lower order. While openers Charles and Lewis managed scores of 7 and 10, and 1 and 3 respectivly, No. 3 Fletcher scored 2 and 29. Among all batsmen who have batted in the two T20s, only one – Dwayne Bravo – has scored over 30. Brathwaite said it was the collective effort he was concerned about, and not the performance of any single player, when asked about Andre Fletcher’s form.
“It’s about each and every person, not only one single one,” Brathwaite said. “As a batting unit we did not come to the party, we didn’t perform as we wanted to do in the two games. We don’t want to single out Fletcher. He has done very very well for the West …
