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Calcutta: Darren Sammy is confident of his team’s bowling attack and said Sunil Narine would be the trump card against England in Pallekele.
West Indies have not played even one complete game in the tournament due to rain. Against Australia, only 9.1 overs of the chase was possible, while the Ireland match faced a soggier fate, with West Indies not getting to bat at all.
“England are the defending champions,” said Sammy. “I don't think they would allow the last game against India to play on their minds. We have our plans, we have to just go out and execute them.” While talking up the opposition, though, Sammy did not sell his team short. “We’ve had battles against them, and we have a good record against them in Twenty20 format.”
Understandably, spin bowling and Chris Gayle were central to West Indies’ plans, but this did not absolve others of their responsibilities. “We will definitely look to bowl spin against them, but we have quality seam bowlers upfront in Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul,” said Sammy. “We have Samuel Badree, who is another spinner in the lineup, so everyone will be considered. Hopefully we will bowl well against England.”
While the options may be many, the key strike weapon for the West Indies will be Sunil Narine. “I think everybody who comes in to bowl has a big role to play, but Sunil is our trump card,” said Sammy. “He’s done well for us in this format, hopefully he could have a big impact on the English batting lineup.”
If the bowling hopes are pinned on Narine, who better to turn to for runs than the Twenty20 demolisher, Gayle? “Chris loves T20, and since he’s got back he’s been excellent for us,” said Sammy. “I just hope he will continue to perform. The fans love watching him play.”
Sammy also denied that Twenty20 cricket was a lottery, and said that his team was not in the tournament to merely challenge the opposition, but to go all the way and win. “The biggest strength for us is the belief in the dressing room that we could win this tournament.”
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