ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC) — West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has decried the lack of “common sense” batting in the regional side and has urged his unit to take a more rational approach when chasing or setting totals.

His reprimand comes in the wake of the regional squad’s third straight loss in the five-match One-Day International at Windsor Park on Friday.

Chasing a modest 225 to stay alive in the series, West Indies slumped to a dismal 157 all out, to lose by 67 runs in the first match of a doubleheader here.

“It boils down to the batsmen taking responsibility which they are not doing, and it is also going to take a large amount of common sense which they are not displaying,” Gibson lamented.

“As a coach, you can talk as much as you like and the guys are working hard at their skills but cricket also requires some thought and a lot of common sense and that’s where, as a batting group, we are falling down.

“I keep saying that, in order to win, we have to create the opportunity first. We created the opportunity, we bowled out (South Africa) for 224, we can’t ask for more than that in a game you have to win.

“All it required was some common sense batting and we’re not displaying any common sense when we walk out.”

Opener Dale Richards top scored with 28 but wickets fell steadily as pacers Morne Morkel (4-21) and Charl Langeveldt (3-30) destroyed the batting.

Gibson said if veteran left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul (24) had batted through the innings while the other batsmen supported, West Indies would have won the match.

“Shiv is still our best player. Chasing 224, we didn’t need any heroics, we just needed some sensible batting, but, as we have seen in most of the games so far, we’ve been let down badly by our batting,” Gibson said.

“We’ve seen in the past Shiv take 40 balls to get 20 runs but, if he bats 50 overs, he will make up. If the other guys bat around him, we will get to 224.”