West Indies assistant coach: Rain has no excuse for ODI loss to Sri Lanka

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Yesterday

West Indies assistant coach (bowling) James Franklin said the long rain delay and subsequent sluggish outfield conditions were no excuse for the regional team's five-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in the first of three One-Day Internationals (ODIs). Pallekele International Stadium on October 20th.

After being reduced to 100 for four by Sri Lanka's clever spinners, the Windies moved to 185 for four thanks to an unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership between Sherfane Rutherford (74 off 82) and Roston Chase (33 off 33). With the West Indies aiming for a big overall win after their mediocre recovery, rain intervened and put an end to the regional team's plans in the 39th over.

After Sri Lanka set a revised target of 232 in 37 overs using the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method at 6.27 runs per over, Franklin felt that the West Indies were definitely in the mix.

The Windies made early progress in the powerplay with eight overs as the hosts fell to 45 for three, but were undone by an impressive 137-run partnership between opposition captain Charith Asalanka (77 off 71) and debutant Nishan Madushka (69 off 54). destroyed). Both men were dismissed in quick succession by a Guyanese left-arm spinner (three for 47), but the hard work was already done as the Lankans took a 1-0 lead with more than five overs to go.

Franklin said the conditions were challenging as the ball was slippery, but he said the West Indies needed to show their adaptability.

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“We cannot use the conditions as an excuse. We play a lot of games around the world where the weather depends on the weather and you have to find ways to deal with that, stay in the game and find a way to perform,” Franklyn told Cricket West Indies media on March 21 .October.

“Even though the conditions have changed in that regard, we certainly won’t use that as an excuse as to why we lost the game.”

In spin-friendly conditions, the West Indies were dismissed for a paltry 89 in the second T20 as Sri Lanka eventually claimed a 2-1 comeback series win. Chase and T20 captain Rovman Powell exceeded the conditions and coach Daren Sammy followed suit at the end of the T20 series.

Speaking at the start of the ODI series, Franklin said Sri Lanka's spin threat was no secret and it was imperative for the team to make the right adjustments and nail down its game plan for the remaining matches.

“We are 1-0 down in this three-game series and we now have a few days to reflect and work on where our improvements lie for the next game in Kandy,” Franklin said. “We know what surface we’re going to get. It will be a very similar surface again.”

“I think from a batting perspective we have to show good intentions with these Sri Lankan spinners. They are high quality spinners. In this part of the world, a good batting strategy or method against spin bowling is of great importance.” What matters is that we are confident with our method and implement it on the day and Sri Lanka both with the bat and with the Put pressure on the ball.”

Franklin said there is still room for improvement with the ball as well, particularly with the inconsistent lengths that were thrown.

With the team's last ODI series being a 3-0 away loss to Australia in February, Franklin said work continues on creating building blocks as they look to improve on their 10th-place finish.

“We are on a journey as an ODI team. We know we have to keep improving… we come here to Sri Lanka and they have always been good in their own country – they are hard to beat in their conditions.”

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Despite the loss in the first ODI, Franklin said that the West Indies were doing very well in the series as he felt they had taken control at certain stages of the game.

“We just need to take control for longer periods of time. Fifty Overs is a much longer game than T20 and it has been a while since we have played ODIs as a group.”

The second ODI in Pallekele will take place on October 23.