Stand in West Indies captain during the Ireland trashing at the T20 World Cup, Dwayne Bravo says that his team is much better than what they have showed so far and will improve as the tournament goes on. The West Indians defeated Ireland by 70 runs in their opening match of the T20 World Cup on Friday night. After an inept batting display saw them tally just 139/9 off their 20 overs, the West Indies bowlers saved faced by bowling out the opposition for just 68 runs to claim the win in front of a packed chanting crowd here. Bravo said: "The home advantage will play an important part and once our fans get behind us it really gets us going," They were a bit disappointed during our warm-up game, but showed we are a much better team than we showed then, by winning the opening World Cup match. As the tournament goes on we will improve. I know for the next game against England there will be a bigger crowd still and it's always important. We can use that to our advantage."
Bravo was made captain of the regional team after regular skipper Chris Gayle turned up at the ground suffering from some stiffness in the upper right thigh. "Obviously losing Chris at the beginning was a bit of a setback but I think we regrouped well as a team," Bravo said. "We knew how important this game was for us to get off to a winning start. It was great to see how we played and I'm sure a lot of people will be happy. "We got off to a good start, faltered in the middle and finished strongly at the end and that's the most important thing. Getting over 130 with their batting line-up and our bowling attack I would back my team any day and I knew we were good enough to go and defend that total." Meanwhile, the West Indies spent the Labour Day holiday in Guyana yesterday working on their batting in particular at the Bourda Oval in Georgetown.
They will come up against England in their second and final preliminary round Group D match at Providence tomorrow. The players braved the severe mid-afternoon heat, as they took in a rigourous training session. Skipper Gayle took part in the session and will be fit enough to play against England tomorrow. Meanwhile, England practiced at the Everest Ground and batsman Eion Morgan said they are as ready as they can be for the Windies clash. "We have trained very hard coming into this tournament and we are ready as can be. Some of us played in the IPL in India so we are match ready. "The two warm-up wins will of course lead to much confidence and we are looking to get a win against the West Indies." Morgan who played for Ireland at the last World Cup in the West Indies in 2007, said he thinks the spinners will play a major part in this series.
"We have a well-balanced team and I think that we can play on any surface. However, what we have seen here so far, it seems the spinners are getting some assistance and I expect them to have a major say in this tournament. "We have Greame Swann who is proving to be a world class spinner and there are others in the camp who can do a really good job."
