West Indies pacer Jerome Taylor feels that the loss to India in their World Twenty20 warm-up fixture, in Kolkata, has given his team a reality check ahead of the tournament-proper which gets underway from March 15.
1. Chasing 186, the Windies folded for 140 in 19.2 overs. Barring the brief opening onslaught by Chris Gayle (20 from 13 balls), the Caribbeans' looked ordinary and terribly short of match practice losing wickets in a heap to go down by 45 runs.
2. "This was a fantastic experience for us and there's a lot to take from this game. The wickets kept falling in a cluster, that's something we can improve on. There's always room for improvement," Taylor said.
3. "We have been playing together for the last two weeks. We're a happy bunch together, we're just sharing each others' experience. We have to get to drawing board."
4. A bitter feud with the Cricket Board over payments marred the West Indies' preparations and that was evident in Thursday night's game, exploited well by Indian spinners Pawan Negi (2/15) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/26). Pacer Mohammed Shami too returned to action after a prolonged injury layoff taking 2/30, while Hardik Pandya claimed two to bundle the Windies out.
5. "We comprise of a lot of International cricketers accustomed to play in the conditions. Hopefully we'll come good soon," he said.
Feats that failed to inspire at World T20
World T20: India thrash West Indies by 45 runs in warm-up match
Everything you want to know about the World T20 venues
5 World T20 games you must not miss!
WT20: Fit-again Shami shows glimpses of yore at India nets