Hope pleased with West Indies’ T20I progress

NELSON, New Zealand (CMC):

WEST INDIES white-ball captain Shai Hope says he is satisfied with his team’s recent T20I performances and the progress they have been making.

His comments came after Sunday’s rained-out fourth T20I against New Zealand, where only 6.3 overs of play were possible.

The West Indies will now have to win the fifth and final match in Dunedin on Thursday to level the five-match series.

The regional side arrived in New Zealand on the back of a 3-0 drubbing of Bangladesh in their preceding T20I series.

Despite trailing 2-1 to the Black Caps, Hope said the Windies had shown grit and determination in the first three matches.

After winning the opener by seven runs, they went down by three runs and nine runs, respectively, in the second and third matches.

“I’ve been looking forward to this one; especially coming from Bangladesh, I expected some better surfaces here in New Zealand.

“I think the guys have been playing really good cricket. It’s just about us trying to progress as a team and it’s great to see the fight that we’ve been showing,” Hope said.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t win those last two games, but every time you put yourself in those positions you obviously have a chance to win, so I’m very happy with the progress that we’re making.

“We didn’t really get a chance to get out there and maximise in this game, but we’ve still got a chance to level the series and that’s our main focus for the next game,” he maintained.