West Indies captain Darren Sammy yesterday warned that players’ careers are on the line after his side slumped to a demoralizing 2-0 series defeat to low-ranked New Zealand.
The Caribbean team, who came into the series ranked sixth — two places above the Black Caps — yesterday lost the third Test by eight wickets following a resounding defeat by an innings and 73 runs in the second Test.
“We definitely cannot continue like this,” an exasperated Sammy said after the loss in Hamilton, New Zealand, gave the Black Caps their first three-Test series win in nearly eight years.
Photo: AFP
The tourists escaped with a draw in the first Test in the Kiwi city of Dunedin when rain wiped out the last session of play, as New Zealand were poised for victory. The match marked the only time the West Indies have avoided defeat in their past five matches, following two thumping innings’ defeats in India.
“A lot of tough decisions have to be made. Probably some careers are on the line. Could be mine as well,” Sammy said.
“We’ve had sessions like this in the past three years. We do well in one session and don’t back it up in the other,” he added.
“Sometimes we’re moving forward, but we take two steps forward and probably three or four backwards so I guess we’re not really moving,” the Windies captain said.
The West Indies had no answer to New Zealand’s pace attack, which was led by Trent Boult, who took 20 wickets at 15.40 in the series, and Tim Southee, who claimed 18 scalps at 18.11.
Darren Bravo’s first Test 218 and centuries from Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Denesh Ramdin in the Windies’ first innings of the third Test were rare bright spots, but wickets tumbled around them as Sammy lamented an inability to forge partnerships.
“It’s up to us as a batting unit, the two batsmen out there, to form a partnership and we were just not able to do that,” he said. “In any organization you need to show that graph of improvement and like the coach always says, if you keep doing the same thing over and over again [you can’t] expect a different result.”
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS