West Indies captain Brian Lara said his side had been well beaten by Australia and they could have had no complaints.
Lara top-scored with 77 and Denesh Ramdin hit 52 but the hosts were all out for 219 to lose by 103 runs.
"Australia showed why they are the best side in the world," admitted Lara, whose side face are playing again, this time against New Zealand on Thursday.
"They outplayed us over the two days. They deserve congratulations for a very good performance," he added.
The loss of the early wickets left the hosts facing a near-impossible task and Lara lamented the batting performance in the opening 10 overs.
"The most important thing about chasing 300-plus is that one of the top three or four batters has to bat through," he said.
"To lose three wickets in under 10 overs I think that was a major setback and the major factor in the game.
"Myself and Ramnaresh Sarwan had to try to consolidate and rebuild the innings and in doing that of, course, we chewed up a lot of balls."
Lara, who batted at number five said he was not about to alter his batting line-up.
"I still have a lot of confidence in the guys up there, Chanderpaul got a hundred in our last game, Chris Gayle is an outstanding batsman," Lara said.
"Sarwan has been our top player in one-day games in the last couple of years and Marlon Samuels has been coming to the fore.
"One game is not going to change things but of course we are going to discuss it. I still have confidence in the top four to do the job that is required, though."
The 19,000 capacity Sir Vivian Richards Stadium was only half full for its first international fixture and Lara described the crowd figure as "very disappointing".
He added: "You think every single game the West Indies play is going to be a full house.
"For the rest of the tournament, I'd like to see our people come out and support the World Cup and support the West Indies."
No comments:
Post a Comment