HAVING signalled recovery from his shoulder injury, West Indies top-order batsman Brandon King is determined to maintain form for what he hopes will be a competitive showing from the regional side at the ICC Twenty20 World Cup this year.

King’s comments came after he produced a Man of the Match performance which saw West Indies to a consolation eight-wicket win over New Zealand in the final game of their three-match series at Sabina Park on Sunday.

The 27-year-old, who missed the first two games — which West Indies lost by 13 runs and 90 runs, respectively — due to the injury, said he was always eager to get a taste of the action. And when the opportunity came, he had no intentions to disappoint.

Playing his first international game on home soil, King smashed a 35-ball 53, including four boundaries and three sixes, in a 102-run opening stand with Shamarh Brooks who was unbeaten on 56 off 59 balls. The partnership was the foundation for West Indies getting to 150-2 with an over to spare in response to New Zealand’s 145-7.

“It was very frustrating [sitting out the first two games], but obviously you have to think long term when you have injuries because you don’t want to put yourself in a complicated position. But, I was itching to get out there and thankfully, I was able to do it for at least one game this series,” King said in a post-game interview.

While the “Black Caps” won the series 2-1, King’s knock ensured that West Indies stymied a five-match losing skid after a heavy 1-4 series loss to number one-ranked India recently.

In fact, Sunday’s performance was West Indies’ best all-round display in recent times and one which King believes is a good platform on which to build.

Another Jamaican, Odean Smith, bagged a career-best 3-29 and was supported by left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein (2-28) in restricting New Zealand. Stand-in Captain Rovman Powell also contributed an unbeaten 15-ball 27 to condemn fifth-ranked New Zealand to their first T20 loss this year.

“Obviously, leading up to the World Cup we want to play well so it’s good that in the last game of the series we had an all-round game and the team did very well, so this win is now a good foundation to press on from,” said King.

“As you know, these [India and New Zealand] are two top teams that we played against and they won more games because they did the right things for longer periods throughout the game, so it is something I think we can adopt to better our game,” he said.

The right-handed batsman, who also registered 68 when West Indies won the solitary T20 game against India, explained that scoring runs to see the team to victory is a positive trend he wants to continue more consistently.

“Experience has been a big factor when it comes to my game — I feel like I understand myself more and what I need to do to score runs for the team — so I would say the mental aspect of it, for me, has improved and that has helped me,” he noted.

“I think consistency is the key. When you are a batsman you always try to do that [remain consistent], especially when you are opening the innings. My job for the team is always the same, no matter what total we are chasing, so again, it’s a very good base to press on,” King said.

On that note, King, pointed out that he is raring to go in the three-match One-day Internationals, also against New Zealand, in Barbados.

Though his role in that side will be different, the in form player said nothing will change in terms of his approach.

“As you know, I have been a middle-order batsman for most of my career, it is just that in T20s I have taken on a role as being an opener. So it is really going back to what I know and trying to adapt in any situation that the team needs me to,” said King, who scored 54 and 42 in the ODI series against India.