Beware of our big hitters, warns Sammy

A CONFIDENT West Indies batsman Darren Sammy yesterday dared England to stop their boundary-hitting in the World Twenty20 final today in Kolkata, saying the Caribbean players have mastered the shorter format.

With the destructive Chris Gayle leading the batting charge, West Indies are always a force to reckon with in limited-overs cricket even after their test decline.

If Gayle started the tournament with an unbeaten century against England, then Lendl Simmons — with his 82-run blitz — anchored the team’s 193-run chase to perfection against India in the semifinal on Thursday.

West Indies batsmen have hit 30 sixes in the tournament so far, four less than England’s 34, and Sammy is boastful of his side’s ability to smash the white ball around.

“We know we are a boundaryhitting team and firstly you’ve got to stop us from hitting boundaries and that’s been a little difficult for oppositions once we get in that zone,” Sammy told reporters at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens yesterday.

Gayle, Simmons and many other Caribbean batsmen are quite a hit in various international Twenty20 leagues around the world, a big

We know we are a boundary-hitting team and you’ve got to stop us from hitting boundaries and that has been a little difficult

reason for their umpteen run-ins with the national cricket board.

The players shrugged off a bitter pay dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board on the eve of this World Twenty20 tournament to answer back in style.

“People just paint us as moneygrabbing cricketers because of our success in T20 cricket but yet, they still don’t respect us in that format and we get that sometimes from our own board,” said Sammy.

“A lot happened before the tournament started and I think in life I always believe everything happens for a reason.

“I think the pre-tournament shenanigans brought us really closer together.”

The maroon brigade have shown consistency in the Twenty20 format after lifting the world title in 2012 and making the semifinal in 2014 before a hailstorm blew their chances away against ultimate champions Sri Lanka.

“It’s a format that we are consistent in, but every year nobody gives us a chance,” said Sammy, who is also team captain.

Sammy also believes that a West Indies victory will not only shun their critics but be a sweet reward for many senior players who might be playing their last major tournament.

“The coach [Phil Simmons] and a few other players said that it’s us against everybody else. All these things brought us closer together with the fact that few of us are getting old now.

“It could be the last for a few of our key players. So that brought us together and we form our own circle,” said the 32-year-old.