Humiliation for WI

West Indies welcomed new coach Otis Gibson to the job with horrific batting that condemned them to an embarrassing 26-run defeat in their Twenty/Twenty International against Zimbabwe yesterday in Trinidad and Tobago.



Chasing a modest 106 from their allotted 20 overs, West Indies were reduced to 79 for seven on a hard, slow Queen’s Park Oval pitch.



Stand-in captain Denesh Ramdin’s 23 not out from 36 balls was the top score, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul made 20 from 30 balls.



Spinner Graeme Cremer was the top bowler for Zimbabwe with three for 11 from his allotment of four overs, and Greg Lamb finished with two for 14 from four overs.



Earlier, Darren Sammy and Sulieman Benn had outstanding bowling figures to dismiss Zimbabwe for 105 in 19.5 overs.



Sammy collected five wickets for 26 runs from 3.5 overs to eclipse Benn’s four for six from four overs as the third best figures in a Twenty/Twenty International.



The Twenty/Twenty International was the precursor to five One-Day Internationals between the two sides to be contested in Guyana on March 4 and 6, and St Vincent on March 10, 12 and 14.