West Indies assistant coach: Rain no excuse for ODI loss to Sri Lanka

West Indies assistant coach (bowling) James Franklin said the lengthy rain delay and subsequent sluggish outfield conditions were no excuses for the regional team’s five-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in the first of three One-day internationals (ODIs) at the Pallekele International Stadium on October 20.

After being reduced to 100 for four by Sri Lanka’s wily spinners, the Windies progressed to 185 for four thanks to an unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership between Sherfane Rutherford (74 off 82) and Roston Chase (33 off 33). With West Indies eyeing a big total after their middle-order recovery, the rain intervened and put an end to the regional team’s plans in the 39th over.

With Sri Lanka set a revised target of 232 in 37 overs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) Method at 6.27 runs per over, Franklin felt the West Indies were definitely in with a shout.

The Windies made early inroads in the eight-over power play as the hosts slipped to 45 for three, but they were undone by an impressive 137-run partnership between opposing captain Charith Asalanka (77 off 71) and debutant Nishan Madushka (69 off 54). Both men were dismissed in quick succession by Guyanese left-arm spinner (three for 47), but the heavy lifting had already been done as the Lankans got home with over five overs to spare to go 1-0 up.

Franklin said conditions were challenging as the ball got slippery, but he said the West Indies need to show their adaptability.

“We can’t use the conditions as an excuse. We play a lot of games around the world in weather affected games and you have to find ways to deal with it and stay in the game and find a way to perform,” Franklyn told Cricket West Indies media on October 21.

“While conditions may have changed in terms of that aspect, we’re certainly not going to use that as an excuse for why we lost that game.”

In spin friendly conditions, West Indies were dismissed for a paltry 89 in the second T20 as Sri Lanka eventually got a 2-1 comeback series win. Chase and T20 captain Rovman Powell knocked the the conditions, with coach Daren Sammy following suit at the end of the T20 series.

Heading into the ODI series, Franklin said Sri Lanka’s spin threat was no secret, and it’s imperative for the team to make the right adjustments and get their game plan down to a T for the remaining matches.

“We’re 1-0 down in this three-game series and we have a few days now to reflect and work on where our improvements lie going into this next game in Kandy,” Franklin said. “We know what surface we’re going to get. It’s going to be a very similar surface again.

“I think from a batting point of view, we need to show good intent with these Sri Lankan spinners. They are high quality spinners. In this part of the world, having a good batting strategy or method against spin bowling goes a long way. It comes to us being confident with our method and executing it on the day and putting Sri Lanka under pressure with both bat and ball.”

Franklin said there’s also room for improvement with the ball, particularly with the inconsistent lengths which were bowled.

With the team’s previous ODI series being a 3-0 away loss to Australia in February, Franklin said the work to establish building blocks continues as they try to improve their tenth-placed ranking.

“We’re on a journey as an ODI team. We know we have to keep improving…we’re coming here to Sri Lanka and they’ve always been good in their own country – they’re difficult to beat in their conditions.”

Despite the loss in the first ODI, Franklin said the West Indies were are very much in the series as he felt they took control at certain stages of the match.

“We just have to seize control for longer periods. Fifty overs is a much longer game than T20 and it’s been a while since we’ve played ODIs as a group.”

The second ODI in Pallekele will bowl off on October 23.

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