South African spinners made the difference: Sammy

NEW DELHI - West Indies captain Darren Sammy gave credit to the South African spinners after his team lost to their fancied opponents in a World Cup Group B match here Thursday.

Sammy said they should have scored close to 270 after being in such a good position till the 40th over of the match.

South Africa played with three spinners and the plan worked for them. Debutant leg-spinner Imran Tahir took four wickets while Johan Botha, who bowled the first over of the match and dismissed Cvhris Gayle, got two wickets.

“Their spinners bowled well, but we lost wickets at crucial junctures, said Sammy at the post-match media interaction.

Botha bowled well initially and Tahir later. As I said, spin will play a part as the tournament progresses.

Sammy, however, said he did not think they missed playing another spinner.

“The only time I was thinking about Nikita Miller was when Bravo was injured. But you can’t say what would have happened had Miller played.”

Sammy spoke highly of the newly-laid Kotla pitch.

“There was a lot of talk about the pitch before the match. I think it was a good wicket and we could have scored 270 plus on this surface. But we kept on losing wickets on a consistent basis. A lot of batsmen got the starts, but could not convert them into big scores.”

Despite the defeat, Sammy felt there were enough positives to take from the game.

“I think Darrens innings was a big plus for us. He is a very confident player. A lot of people compare him to Lara (Brian). He is already an asset to the team and has a bright future.

The skipper asserted that his team can fight back.

We got to have that self-belief. I still believe we could beat anyone if we play to our potential and be more consistent than what we are,”he said.