Disappointment for Windies as final warm-up match abandoned
MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct 12, CMC – West Indies’ final preparations for the qualifying phase of the T20 World Cup hit a snag on Wednesday when rains forced their last official warm-up match against the Netherlands to be abandoned.
The fixture at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was the second of two warm-ups and represented the Caribbean side’s final chance for a match scenario ahead of their opening game of the qualifiers against Scotland next week.
On Monday, October 10, the Windies defeated the United Arab Emirates by 17 runs in their opening warm-up at Junction Oval in Australia.
That followed a 2-0 series defeat to hosts and World champions, Australia, in games played in Gold Coast and Brisbane the previous week.
West Indies head coach, Phil Simmons, indicated that despite the abandoned match against New Zealand, the Windies remains focused on their qualifiers against Scotland.
“I’m looking at the first game and the first game is against Scotland on the 17th, and that’s where we are focussing now,” he said.
“When we finish with that one, we focus on the next one, so right now it’s about sharpening up and making sure we are ready on the 17th for the start of our tournament,” he added.
In addition, the West Indies will take on Zimbabwe on Wednesday, October 19 in their second qualifier before wrapping up against Ireland on Friday, October 21.
The two-time former World champions have been installed in Group B of the eight-team qualifiers, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the main draw which gets underway on October 22 in Sydney, Australia.
