PERTH, Australia (CMC) –All-rounder Darren Sammy says West Indies not daunted by the prospects of facing unbeaten India when the two teams clash in the ICC Cricket World Cup Group B fixture on Friday.
West Indies remain in contention for a place in the quarter-finals having won two matches and lost two and with two more matches to play in the preliminary round.
Jason Holder’s men are in fourth place in the pool behind India who have won all their matches played, followed by South Africa and Ireland.
“We go out on the cricket field looking to win matches. It would be good to get a win against India,” said Sammy. “The Indian team is good but we are not going to focus solely on them. We are going to focus on what we could do … once we do what we could do we are going to defeat teams.”
India and the West Indies, two teams versed with each other’s strengths and weaknesses, take on each other at the Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) ground in Perth.
The last time these two teams battled it out in a World Cup match was in 2011, when India emerged victorious.
“We will compete and we will give ourselves a chance of winning. We have shown when we get it right we compete with the best in the world. It’s about putting our focus on the things we do well consistently over a longer period of time in the match. The team which absorbs the most pressure normally tends to win cricket matches,” said Sammy.
Twenty-three-year-old all-rounder Jason Holder is again leading West Indies who desperately need a win to keep alive their chances of securing a place in the quarter-finals.
Holder, who top-scored with 56 off 48 balls, the highest score of his ODI career, against South Africa, has been under intense scrutiny since accepting the position to lead the regional side.
“He is a strong character and strong characters when they go through tough times they always come back stronger,” he said. “But it is important that we as a team support him and help him through the tough times.”