At the end of the 41st over with New Zealand 165-8, still needing 74 from 54 balls, I sat back in my chair confident the West Indies Under-19s were about to claim a deserved semi-final spot at the ICC Under-19 World Cup.

The left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd had just completed good work, taking 3-33 from his 10 overs.

It was now time for the outstanding fast bowler Jayden Seales to be given the ball to clean up.

Seales, big and strong at 18 years old, was very good without taking a wicket in his first six overs of that quarter-final on Wednesday, giving up 21 runs.

On another day he may well have broken the back of the New Zealand batting.

He had bowled balls at close to 90 miles an hour and visibly disturbed all batsmen with his hostility, skill, and control.

None of that came as any surprise since Seales had already established himself in first-round games — being spoken about as a future star of West Indies cricket.

How is it then that the script in my head turned out to be wrong?

Instead of giving the ball to his big, fast bowler, West Indies Captain Kimani Melius turned to medium pacers.

They served up fashionable, slower balls, wide balls, and other stuff that turned out to be mostly rubbish. It was as if — with just two wickets remaining — the imperative of aggressively dismissing the opposition was suddenly replaced by a policy of appeasement.

Why? Something must be wrong with Seales, I decided. But there he was in the outfield, facial expression caught on television, suggesting he was as baffled as those of us watching.

In the blinking of an eye, New Zealand’s numbers nine and ten, Joey Field and Kristian Clarke, had taken charge, smashing the ball to all parts, and increasingly, nervy West Indian fielders made a succession of costly mistakes.

Such was the body language, that by the start of the 49th over it was clear New Zealand would win. West Indies, buoyant less than half an hour earlier, looked shell-shocked.

New Zealand raced over the line with Seales having bowled just six overs — not called on at all at the end.

Melius blamed fielding errors for defeat. But in cricket that happens. New Zealand made fielding errors too. All any of us can do is the best we can, which includes making correct tactical decisions.

Don’t get me wrong, West Indies may still have lost had Seales bowled his 10 overs. But then we would all have comfortably doffed our caps to the admirable New Zealanders, knowing the young West Indies team did the best it could.

There was a time, not so long ago, when there could have been no thought of the main West Indies strike bowler — genuinely quick at that — not completing his allotment in a situation such as Wednesday’s.

If Seales wasn’t going to be used in the final overs, he should have completed his work earlier — unless there was something wrong with him.

Surely, Coach Graeme West and his staff should explain?

Those of us who have stayed loyal to West Indies cricket through thick and thin deserve an explanation.