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West Indies v South Africa, 3rd ODI, Barbados

King lambasts lower-order batsmen

Cricinfo staff

May 13, 2005

Bennett King has very little to smile about after West Indies' narrow loss to South Africa in Barbados © Getty Images

Bennett King, the West Indies coach, has lambasted his lower-order batsmen for failing to follow the instructions in the closing stages of the crucial third one-dayer against South Africa in Barbados. West Indies, who required only four runs of the last over with three wickets in hand, lost the match by one run when Charl Langeveldt claimed his maiden hat-trick.

"The instruction was to hit the ball and try and give the strike over to Dwayne (Bravo)," King was quoted as saying by The Nation. "It just highlights some of the experience of the boys and some of the thinking and their process that needs to change."

However, the tailenders, Ian Bradshaw and Daren Powell, were clean bowled trying to attempt big shots, and Corey Collymore was caught plumb in front the wicket, leaving Bravo stranded at the other end on 21.

King pointed out the lack of experience in the lower order, which led to their downfall. "The real reason why we didn't win that game was simply because we made some mistakes early and didn't bowl as well as we could've," he continued. "And all combined the results are there for everyone to see. So you don't want to end up dwelling on things like that that happened in the past."

However, King also mentioned the positives to have come from the match. "The general public, from various sectors, have been very supportive about what they see on the field," King told CCN TV6, a Trinidad based television channel, "And I think the people who know their cricket can see that there's been some changes in the side already and changes they believe are quite good, so the feedback's been good."

South Africa lead the five-match series 3-0, as the two teams head to Trinidad for a double-header over the weekend. South Africa also won the Test series 2-0, which was their fourth successive Test series win over West Indies.