Stop ‘boundary’ flow if you can, Sammy dares England

We have grown as a team: Morgan

KOLKATA, April 2, (RTRS): The sight of a West Indian batsman stealing a cheeky single is a rarity in international cricket but skipper Darren Sammy does not mind as long as the fours and the sixes keep flowing from their bats.

The Caribbean side flexed their batting muscle to storm into the World Twenty20 final against England who they beat in a group stage match in Mumbai.

Sammy is aware of the criticism of his team’s poor strike rotation but believes the power-hitters can more than make up with big shots.

“People say we don’t rotate our strike well, we’ll talk about that but first thing is you have to stop us from hitting dressing-room. So it was exciting to watch...(Lendl) Simmons, (Andre) Russell and (Johnson) Charles displayed that type of boundary-hitting against India.”

England have looked a vastly-improved side since that loss to West Indies but Sammy thinks his team will be unbeatable if they can play in the same manner.

“One of the senior players -- I think it was Dwayne Bravo -- made a comment in one of our tame meetings: ‘the only thing that could beat is ourselves’ and we believe that,” he said.

“Once we do what we could do well, nobody can defeat us and that is the mentality we take forward against England.”

West Indies will face a completely different England side in Sunday’s World Twenty20 final compared to the one they beat in the Super 10 stage match, captain Eoin Morgan said on the eve of the title clash.

Doubts crept in about England’s prospects in the sixth edition of the tournament after West Indies chased down a 182-run target at the Wankhede Stadium with almost two overs to spare, riding on an unbeaten century from opener Chris Gayle.

But the 2010 champions made significant improvement in their last two matches, including a morale-boosting victory over an in-form New Zealand side in the semi-finals, to inch closer to a second T20 title.

“I think it’s two completely different teams given that we have grown as a side game on game,” Morgan told reporters at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.

“I think it’s difficult to compare sides from the first game of the tournament to the final of the World Cup.”

While Gayle is due for a big score having made little impact on the tournament since his blitzkrieg against England, Morgan said England could not afford to only focus on the Jamaican.

“Even before we played West Indies in the group stages I was quite firm in saying that Chris Gayle wasn’t just the West Indies team,” said the 29-year-old who is himself due for runs.

“It’s important that when you are playing against good sides you do not focus on one or two good players. It’s everybody, because anybody can hurt you,” Morgan added.

“I think India witnessed that and everybody watching the game witnessed that with Lendl Simmons’ innings.”

Barely 12 months back, England made an ignominious exit from the 50over World Cup and were pilloried for their negative approach to limited overs cricket.

Gayle