Sammy laments Windies letting 'key moments slip'

In a previous story we mentioned that the West Indies haven't won a match against a top cricketing nation in more than 20 months; the last big team they beat was India in June 2009.

Since then the Caribbeans have played 33 One-Day Internationals against teams like Australia, India, South Africa and Sri Lanka, but of the nine matches they won, not a single was against a major team.

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Ahead of their final Group B fixture against India, West Indies captain Darren Sammy was asked about the same.

Why has the West Indies struggled against the top teams in the last two years or so?

"Winning is a habit," replied Sammy, getting a tad philosophical.

"When the opportunity presents itself you have to grab it and ensure the results go in your favour," he continued, adding, "Unfortunately, we have let those key moments slip away from us in recent times."

The 18-run defeat at the hands of England was another opportunity lost for the West Indies. However, Sammy did manage to present a positive picture.

"In order to win against these big teams you have to first create opportunities to win," he explained, adding, "And that's something that we have started doing now.

"We are definitely coming closer with each game."

With Bangladesh suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of South Africa, the match on Sunday has become academic and India will be expected to wring in a few changes to the line-up.

Asked if the West Indies team fancies its chances of that elusive win, especially since they are facing the last major team they beat, Sammy's reply was more diplomatic than confident. 

"The first objective was to qualify for the knock-out stage. So we have done well so far. Hopefully, we will get a favourable result against India.

"We will definitely come out with a game plan and hopefully execute it."

If they do win against India on Sunday, it will mark the end of arguably the worst drought in the history of West Indies cricket.

If they don't, the wait will get longer, considering they have difficult matches coming up in the knock-out stages.