'An opportunity lost'

• Sammy admits WI wasted chance, but remains upbeat

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC):

West Indies captain Darren Sammy believes his side squandered an excellent opportunity to win the two-Test series against Pakistan, especially after their impressive victory in the first Test a week ago.

The hosts trounced Pakistan by 40 runs inside four days last week in Guyana, but played poorly in the second Test here and were crushed by 196 runs, 15 minutes before lunch on the fifth day - Tuesday.

"We see it as an opportunity lost. We had good momentum coming into this game and throughout the Test match I think we lost momentum when that last pair (Tanvir Ahmed and Saeed Ajmal) put on 70-odd (in the first innings), but looking at the game we just did not score enough runs in both innings," Sammy said afterward.

lame batting performance

Resuming the final day on 130 for five in pursuit of a mammoth 427 for victory, West Indies lost their remaining wickets for 100 runs, to collapse for 230.

The effort represented yet another lame batting performance, especially after they were dismissed for 223 in the first innings.

Marlon Samuels (57) and Darren Bravo (50) hit half-centuries in the first and second innings, respectively, to be the only batsmen to reach the landmark in the series, a fact Sammy lamented.

"As a side we won't be happy with that. Cricket is about runs and wickets and we have not been able to do that for a while now," the all-rounder said.

"The batsmen have some work to do. We have Dessie (Desmond Haynes) here doing some good work. We just have to put what we have practised out there in the middle because that's where it counts.

"You can't fault the lower order. The bowlers came and did the job asked of them. All throughout the one-day series and Test series they've been giving us runs. But we dropped some crucial catches as well and that cost us dearly in this game."

Good bowling

With the one-day and Test series against India looming next month, Sammy said there were some positives to take from the Pakistan experience.

"The bowling unit looks good. Ravi Rampaul (came) back into the Test set-up and he bowled well. We have (Devendra) Bishoo who keeps on improving, Fidel (Edwards) is on the bench so it's a difficult bowling side to pick so that looks good," he explained.

"We're getting runs from the lower order and I know the batsmen will come good. The work they have been doing in the nets it's only a matter of time before they transfer it into the middle."