"It needs to be better....": Ian Bishop urges West Indies to improve dot-ball percentage
Jun 03, 2024
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 3 : Former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop criticized West Indies for their disappointing batting performance against Papua New Guinea (PNG) in their ICC T20 World Cup match despite a victory, saying that the two-time T20 WC champions need to manage their dot ball percentage better.
Roston Chase and Andre Russell saved West Indies from an early upset by producing a boundary fest and sealing a 5-wicket win against Papua New Guinea in the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Providence Stadium on Sunday.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Bishop said, "The dot ball percentage, we have talked about it for years. WI when conditions and flat, have to be able to score off more balls, however, they choose to score 54 55 dot balls, which needs to be better."
Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer also agreed that with more number of dot balls, pressure comes to the batters and West Indies needs to adapt to pitches which are not flat.
"If you keep the strike rotation going uh then obviously the bowlers also come into under pressure. But you keep on playing dot balls, you put a lot of pressure on yourself, and that is not the strongest suit of this West Indian team. When they have got flat pitches, they are a dangerous side because everybody can bat at 160, 170, even more strike rate. We have seen that before the game. But when they find pitches like this, that is where they need to adapt and obviously score on balls which are dot balls," he said.
"And if the dot ball percentage comes down, you automatically score a lot more runs," he concluded.
Coming to the match, the West Indies put PNG on the field first. Sese Bau (50 in 43 balls, with six fours and a six) and wicketkeeper-batter Kiplin Doriga (27 in 18 balls, with three fours) played some crucial knocks to take PNG to 136/8 in their 20 overs.
West Indies was made to work for each run in their run-chase of 137 runs and were restricted to 97/5. Roston Chase (42 in 27 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and Andre Russell (15* in nine balls, with a six) finished the game for the Windies, with an over to go.
