West Indies face India in a virtual quarterfinal clash on Sunday with the winner qualifying for the T20 World Cup semifinals.
Both India and West Indies have 2 points after playing 2 Super 8 matches and both of their qualification dreams come down to the clash at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
While India lost their match against South Africa but bounced back with a big win over Zimbabwe, West Indies started the Super 8 stage with a dominant win over Zimbabwe before tasting defeat at the hands of the Proteas.
West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd reckoned the team has to quickly put behind the nine-wicket loss to South Africa ahead of the final Super Eight clash against India.
While the Proteas have qualified for the semifinals, the Caribbean side and Suryakumar Yadav’s men will face off in a virtual ‘quarterfinal’ game at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Shepherd scored a fine unbeaten 52 and added 89 for the eighth wicket with Jason Holder to help the Windies recover to 176 for eight from 83 for seven. However, Aiden Markram played a captain’s knock and polished off the target in 16.1 overs.
“We don’t have much time, actually, to go and sulk. Just to keep a level head and try to recover as fast as possible for that big game. It’s a must-win game, so we know our destiny is in our own hands. Hopefully, we can go there and get a win and go through to the semi,” said the Guyanese cricketer
The 31-year-old also felt the team failed to make full use of a good batting surface and agreed that it was short by nearly 50 runs.
“Yeah, I think so, because even when the guys were getting out, they were telling us that the wicket is so good. Even when I went out there, the wicket was so good. The first few balls that hit my bat, it just comes on like you’re batting on concrete,” he added.
At the same time, Shepherd also credited the South African pacers for nailing their slower deliveries and yorkers.
“Lungi with that difficult, slow ball of his. You know, they take the wicket out of the equation. He was beating me in the air more than off the wicket,” Shepherd explained about getting beaten repeatedly by Ngidi in the 19th over, in which he managed just five runs off as many balls.
