Confident WI aiming for T20 success

As the disappointing memories of the recent Test series still linger, the West Indies T20 side will be hoping to bring back a few smiles on the faces of Caribbean fans, when the regional side host South Africa in the first of five T20 Internationals starting today in Grenada at 1 p.m. Jamaica time.

All the excitement of the fast-paced shorter format brings a sense of confidence for the current World Champions West Indies, who have brought back a few familiar faces in the likes of Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle and Fidel Edwards to give the Proteas a run for their money.

If the weather holds up, a runs feast looms, with the Grenada National Stadium set to host just its second T20 international, with the first contest last year recording over 400 runs between the Windies and Ireland.

Captain Kieron Pollard said his troops, albeit on the ageing side, are ready to get one over on their South African counterparts, who have won six of the ten T20 contests between the sides.

“We are a lot confident going into the series. A lot of our guys would have played against the likes of Rabada, Nortje and de Kock, so familiarity can work for us, but every day is a new day,” said Pollard.

Pollard is cognisant of the fact that his team had to dig deep to come away with a 2-1 series win in their last series against Sri Lanka. However, the Trinidadian believes the attitude shown by his players shows that the team is committed to winning at all costs.

“Winning is very important to us. In some of those nail-biting games, we would have ended up on the losing side and would have left with our heads down. It is good to see the guys showing that kind of character of wanting to win and having the will to win, and the preparation that we have had in the last 10 days is going to put us in good stead, and hopefully, we can start the series well and go on to win the series,” added Pollard.

In the meantime, new South Africa captain Temba Bavuma is hoping that his side can carry the momentum from the Test series over into this format.

“Quite a number of those Test guys are involved in the T20s, so I think it is only natural that we carry that confidence into the T20 series,” Bavuma said.