Reifer wants more consistent middle-order batting

GUWAHATI, India (CMC):

West Indies batting coach Floyd Reifer is confident the team can bounce back in today’s second One-Day International against India but says the batters must produce a more consistent performance.

The Windies lost Sunday’s opening match by eight wickets and need a victory at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium to keep alive their hopes of winning the three-match series.

The visitors squandered a strong platform built by openers Justin Greaves and John Campbell. Greaves scored his maiden ODI century, and Campbell struck a half-century during a 135-run opening partnership.

From 176-1 after 30 overs, the Windies lost five wickets for 22 runs to slip to 198-5. Although they eventually reached 299-7 from their 50 overs at the Greenfield International Stadium, they finished 50 to 60 runs short of what would have been a competitive total.

Virat Kohli and captain Shubman Gill then slammed centuries as India raced to 300-2 in 41.4 overs.

Speaking at a pre-match press conference yesterday, Reifer acknowledged that the regional side’s batting during the middle overs proved costly.

“We had a lot of positives. Obviously, the start that we had in terms of the 85-run partnership in the first 10 overs and the openers took that along to 135. [Justin] Greaves got a 100, John [Campbell] got a 50.

“In terms of the middle-order batting, I thought [Amir] Jangoo played really well in terms of getting his 50 in 30-something balls, so we got a lot of positives coming out of the last game. It’s just for us now to be consistent for a bit longer batting those middle overs,” Reifer said.

“... Batting in the middle overs is something that we’re continuing to work on, and we want to get really consistent with that. We’re aiming to get back to that year we had in 2024-2025 when we were scoring at six plus runs an over in the middle overs, but it’s a work in progress.

“Obviously, batting spin, the guys have improved, but there’s still a long way to go for us,” he added.

Reifer said that while chasing is generally the preferred option in India, the West Indies would still need a substantial score if they bat first.

“This ground is a high-scoring ground. When you’re batting in India, chasing is always a good option. Some dew may come into play, but it doesn’t matter if you’re batting first or batting last because if you bat first, you need to put a good total on the board.

“In ODI cricket now, the level has raised, and the game is evolving to where teams are looking to score 360 plus. So if you bat first on good pitches, you will have to be aiming for 360,” Reifer said.