Sammy: Batting improvement key in series decider

West Indies head coach Daren Sammy has challenged his batsmen to deliver a more disciplined performance as they seek to regain the One Day International (ODI) series lead against New Zealand in Guyana on Thursday. 

The two teams head into the third ODI locked at 1-1, with West Indies winning the opener at Providence by seven wickets before New Zealand responded with a five-wicket victory in the second encounter.

Sammy said the West Indies batting unit must show greater discipline and application in conditions they know well, as they look to stop a New Zealand side that has won four of the last five ODIs between the teams.

“It’s important for us as a batting group to be a little bit more aware of the situation, assess a little faster as to what is required on the surface and what is a good total on that surface. 

“Yes, the conditions are challenging, but if we stick to the process of how we want to go about doing things, we give ourselves a better chance of executing,” Sammy explained.

Reflecting on the previous game, Sammy described his team’s bowling performance as good, saying they made New Zealand fight for their runs, but he believes with a better score on the board, West Indies would be in a better position to win. 

He said West Indies are working towards a scenario, where winning the toss becomes less critical to their chances of victory.

“I think we’re going back to the pitch where we played the first game. 

It seems like whoever wins the toss looks to bowl first, but we have to become a team that can set totals and also defend them, and we’re working on that.

 “We just need to apply that same mindset we have in the chase, whether it be a turning wicket, which is what we’re faced with now in Guyana. It’s something we really have to get better at, making better decisions, when the challenge comes from the bowlers,” Sammy added.

After originally being left out of the squad to facilitate his participation in Major League Cricket, Shimron Hetmyer has replaced the injured Justin Greaves in West Indies’ squad. The attacking top order batsman last played 

an ODI in June 2025 and Sammy believes his experience, particularly in home conditions, could be critical.

“Shimron is a unique case, you know he’s from Guyana and one of our better players of spin in the team, so it’s good to have him available to us, especially at home. We all know how he plays in these conditions, so hopefully he can have an impact on the game and on winning for us, so it’s good to have him back into the squad.”

With critical ICC points at stake in an effort to ensure automatic World Cup qualification, Sammy noted that proper execution of the team’s game plans will be paramount.

“Trust in the process is something that we’ve been preaching, and at home is one of the areas where we want to really improve on our success.”

(KH)