Bowling key to Windies victory – Skipper

TAROUBA, Trinidad (CMC):

WEST INDIES will be hoping to get their bowling right and bring a rousing finish to a series that started with great promise when they face reigning world champions England in the decisive fifth Twenty20 International on Thursday in Trinidad.

The Caribbean side were full of confidence after beating the English 2-1 in the preceding One-day International series and taking a 2-0 lead in the T20I series, but things have gone awry for Rovman Powell and his side, and they have since slipped to chastening successive defeats. The series is now level at 2-2.

Still, Powell said it was not beyond his side to get the job done in the decider at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA) if the bowling, which has been a let-down in the past two matches, hits the mark.

“A lot of emphasis must be placed on our bowling for us to win,” Powell told CWI Media on the eve of the match.

“For the past two matches, we have not done well as a bowling group. (This decider) provides an opportunity for us to do that. We must bowl better. There is no two ways about it.”

In those matches, the West Indies bowling failed to contain the brutal batting of England, led by opener Phil Salt.

On each occasion, Salt brutalised the attack and hit back-to-back hundreds, forging a successful opening partnership with his captain, Jos Buttler, to renew England hopes of a strong defence to the world title next year in the Caribbean and the United States.

“We have bowling plans for England’s top six, top seven batters, the guys we think will hurt us and can hurt us, and Phil Salt is one of them,” Powell said. “He is someone we are looking to see how best we can dismiss him cheaply...

“But we have not been executing our bowling plans properly. We still think we have good plans against him and the rest of their batting, but the execution is where we are falling down.”

With fast-bowling spearhead Alzarri Joseph being rested for the last two matches of the series with the forthcoming tour of Australia in mind, the West Indies pace attack struggled.

“It has been a concern for us, but our execution has not been up to par,” Powell said. “As much as the pitches are good, they are not 260 pitches. That gives us an opportunity once we execute properly, then we should be OK.

“A lot of variations are needed on pitches that are very good. You must have proper variations to your bowling, and your skill sets come into play such as the yorker – attacking yorkers and wide yorkers – which is the best option to go.

“When the pitches are as good as they have been in this series, you want to use as small a portion of it as possible.”

The batting does not appear to be too much of a liability now – after all, the series has yielded more than 100 sixes – the most in a bilateral series, and the West Indies posted over 200 in the third T20I and got close to that mark in the fourth.