Gamesmanship by the West Indies ahead of Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal against New Zealand proves the adage that many a true word is spoken in jest. The tone of the West Indies’ trash talk has been that New Zealand, unbeaten and riding a growing wave of expectation, is under more pressure than them. Darren Sammy said his West Indies are proven in the knockout rounds of world tournaments and historically have the edge over New Zealand when in counts most. “It’s a big occasion but we’re not going to be overwhelmed by it,” Sammy said. “We’ve played New Zealand in the quarterfinals of World Cups before. Yes, it was a T20 World Cup but when it came down to crunch time, we won.
“This time around it won’t be any different. It will be a full house rooting for New Zealand but we know within our group once we do the basics, the things we know we can do well, we’re unstoppable.” Several former West Indies greats — among them Brian lara, Viv Richards and Curtley Ambrose — have echoed Sammy’s point of view.
Richards, in a column on Friday, said New Zealand “are the in-form team of the tournament, have won all their games in the pool stage and are one of the favorites. But West Indies have nothing to fear.” “They have the batting personnel to do it on any given day and their bowling has improved dramatically over the course of last two or three matches,” Richards said. “Regardless of how New Zealand have played, I believe West Indies can turn the corner and deliver that one bad match for the Black Caps.”
New Zealand has not taken the West Indies verbal bait, but the team knows a 6-0 record in pool play counts for nothing on Saturday.
The Black Caps have played consistently well across the tournament whereas the West Indies’ form has swung wildly, from wins over Pakistan and Zimbabwe to losses to Ireland, India and South Africa. West Indies pacemen Jerome Taylor and Jason Holder have bowled exceptionally well in the first 10 overs, taking more wickets at a better economy rate than any new-ball pair at the tournament.
“It’s a huge thing for us,” Taylor said. “People pretty much didn’t expect us to get to the quarterfinal stage and now we’re here. We’re just going out all guns blazing tomorrow and just giving our all. New Zealand can be beaten.” New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum dismissed pre-match talk of favorites and underdogs. “Once the coin goes up and the contest between bat and ball starts, all of that talk, all of the pre-match favoritism goes out the window,” McCullum said. “Tomorrow is no different just because it’s a quarterfinal. “We know that on paper we’re a strong team but we need to make sure that we turn up and display the type of skills that we’ve been able to throughout this tournament. If we do that, I’m sure we will be hard to beat.”
‘don’t feaR sudden death’ Inspite of their faultless form, burgeoning belief in it title chances, New Zealand know that it could all come to a sudden end on Saturday.
Unbeaten New Zealand are borne along by unprecedented public support, McCullum said the Kiwis are having “the greatest time of our lives”.
“The brand of cricket we’ve played has really captivated New Zealand and is starting to make people around the world sit up and take notice of how we go about our work,” McCullum said.
The skipper also realizes everything could come unstuck Saturday. “We’re realistic that that could happen,” McCullum said. “We’re certainly not fearful. I don’t think you can be fearful of anything in this game. It’s a competition between two teams and a competition between bat and ball.
“If West Indies turn up tomorrow, someone plays a match-winning inning which is good enough to overcome and upset our best, then I can live with that.”
In spite of high stakes, McCullum was reluctant to call the match the most important of his career.
“One of the things which we’ve worked really hard on over the last six to 12 months is being able to make sure we still head into pressure games with the same level of preparation and confidence and understanding of what works for us so we can go out there and exhibit our skills and that’s what tomorrow is going to present for us as well,” McCullum said. “It’s a big game, but we’ll go out there and enjoy the moment, the stage and a full house at Wellington.”