Georgetown, June 8 Ahead of West Indies returning to Men’s T20 World Cup action through their Group C clash against Uganda on Sunday, off-spin all-rounder Roston Chase said the co-hosts have to improve upon their dot-ball batting percentage, especially in the middle overs.
West Indies had suffered a scare while chasing a modest 137 in a five-wicket win over minnows Papua New Guinea in its tournament opener. The two-time champions saw half of their side down for 97 and played a lot of dot balls in the middle overs, before Chase’s 42 not out, along with Andre Russell’s unbeaten 15 helped them get over the line.
“For us, it's a case of where we have to improve our dot ball percentage, especially in the middle overs. I mean, the pitch was a difficult one that we played on in the first game. So, I think it's a case where we just need to not panic too quickly.”
“Just try to stabilize the middle overs, because we have a lot of power in the back end to kind of make up for it. So, it's just a case of where we just need to get a few singles more and ones into twos and stuff like that, and then just launch in the back end,” said Chase in the pre-match press conference.
He also thinks his T20I batting has evolved a lot this year. “Well, my game was always one, I could always rotate the strike and turn over the strike in the middle overs. But I think my game has evolved where I have learned.”
“I've been practicing to finish the game in the back end in terms of the power hitting and getting stronger and stuff. So, I think that's what really helped my game to evolve and yes, made me a better player.”
In the West Indies Test team, Chase has been called as the Crisis Man and is now donning the same role in T20Is. Asked on how he’s liking the role of taking the side out of crisis consistently, Chase said, “In my cricketing career, I've always been one to get some hard tasks. So, I really cherish the opportunity and the experiences. I mean, it is good to go out there and get an easy job.”
“But I mean, I think that your teammates, coaches and especially the fans, I think they rate you more and they appreciate you more when you come out to these hard times. So I just always looking to do good even when the pressure is on. I know that once I come out on top, people love me.”
Though West Indies are big favorites to win over Uganda, Chase insisted his side won’t be taking them lightly, citing the fact that the T20 World Cup has produced great winning results for associate nations in the last few days.
“It's good for cricket that the teams can be competitive. You don't want to be seeing, especially the fans paying their money to come into a stadium, to see a game that lasts for an hour, where a team gets bowled out for 40, and then is just finishing.”
“You know what I mean? You want to see a fight right down to the end and have your money's worth at the end of the day. So that's really good for cricket that even the associate teams can compete with the full member teams and give them a fight or even like how USA upset Pakistan. So, I just want to see good cricket throughout.”
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