Desperate times for hosts West Indies

GEORGETOWN – Fans and former cricketers are fast losing faith in Brian Lara’s West Indians, who are facing an early exit from the World Cup after three successive defeats in the Super Eights.

The West Indies’ semi-final hopes were severely jolted when they crashed to a 113-run defeat against Sri Lanka in front of their supporters at the Providence Stadium here on Sunday. They were always considered a dangerous side because of their unpredictability, but have looked only predictable in their last three matches against defending champions Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.The West Indies were the surprise winners of the 2004 Champions Trophy in England and also finished runners-up in the 2006 edition in India.But they always looked the second-best side in their Super Eights games.Batting was their big headache as they failed to cross the 220-mark in their previous three games, with only Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul among the top-order batsmen scoring one half-century apiece.Opener Chris Gayle’s below-par performances only added to their problems, for he was instrumental in giving his team solid starts in the Champions Trophy in India last year when he was named man of the tournament.The West Indies clashed with three in-form sides early in the second round, but could not raise their performance.Their bowling and fielding both left a lot to be desired under pressure.The competitive flavour was missing in all the three matches as they lost by 103 runs against Australia, by seven wickets against New Zealand and by 113 runs against Sri Lanka.No hosts have ever won the Cup and the West Indies look unlikely to break the jinx as they not only have to win against South Africa, England and Bangladesh, but also have to depend on other teams’ results.Nampa-AFPThey were always considered a dangerous side because of their unpredictability, but have looked only predictable in their last three matches against defending champions Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.The West Indies were the surprise winners of the 2004 Champions Trophy in England and also finished runners-up in the 2006 edition in India.But they always looked the second-best side in their Super Eights games.Batting was their big headache as they failed to cross the 220-mark in their previous three games, with only Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul among the top-order batsmen scoring one half-century apiece.Opener Chris Gayle’s below-par performances only added to their problems, for he was instrumental in giving his team solid starts in the Champions Trophy in India last year when he was named man of the tournament.The West Indies clashed with three in-form sides early in the second round, but could not raise their performance.Their bowling and fielding both left a lot to be desired under pressure.The competitive flavour was missing in all the three matches as they lost by 103 runs against Australia, by seven wickets against New Zealand and by 113 runs against Sri Lanka.No hosts have ever won the Cup and the West Indies look unlikely to break the jinx as they not only have to win against South Africa, England and Bangladesh, but also have to depend on other teams’ results.Nampa-AFP