MANCHESTER: Two-time World Cup-winning captain Clive Lloyd has said the West Indies should learn the art of adaptability from New Zealand captain Kane Williamson as they fight to avoid early elimination.

Jason Holder’s side has managed only one win from five matches ahead of Friday’s game against New Zealand at Old Trafford in Manchester.

The Black Caps, unbeaten in the round-robin competition so far, are fresh from their four-wicket win over South Africa on Wednesday when Williamson made an unbeaten 106 to anchor a tense chase at Edgbaston.

With their hopes of reaching the semi-finals fading fast, Lloyd, the leader of the West Indies side that won the World Cup in 1975 and 1979, believes his country should take a leaf out of Williamson’s ‘masterful’ knock.

“The West Indies need to raise their game if they are to have a chance against New Zealand at Old Trafford on Saturday,” Lloyd wrote in his column for the International Cricket Council. “In Kane Williamson, the Black Caps have a terrific captain and an even more impressive batsman. His innings to knock off South Africa was absolutely masterful, one of the finest I have ever seen in an ODI game. He is a fantastic reader of the game and knows how to adapt to what is going on around him.

“The West Indies would benefit from learning a thing or two from Williamson.” West Indies started the tournament by beating Pakistan in their opener but soon lost momentum with defeats against Australia, England and Bangladesh.

Lloyd feels West Indies’ loss to Bangladesh at Taunton early this week was especially frustrating.

“I was disappointed with the West Indies performance against Bangladesh. It would appear that they only have one way to play with no variation to their game plan,” said Lloyd. “They are trying to blast people out and I don’t think they understand the English conditions.

“You cannot always do that here because the pitches during this competition has been batsman friendly despite the rain. It might be green but it doesn’t always fly around.”

However, Lloyd still has high hopes for top order batsmen Evin Lewis and Shai Hope, both of whom scored half-centuries against Bangladesh.

“Shai Hope has been playing extremely well for quite a while since he has arrived on the international scene. And it was good to see Evin Lewis get a score at last. I think he is a terrific cricketer,” said Lloyd.

The way the West Indies bounced out Pakistan for 105 and had Australia reeling at 87-5 in their first two games excited cricket lovers, raising expectations a big pace quartet could emulate the domination of the Caribbean fast bowlers from Lloyd’s era.

But since letting holders Australia off the hook at Trent Bridge on June 6, the West Indies have just struggled.

New Zealand, who lost the final to Australia in 2015, have a well-balanced line-up but have only been pushed to the limit once so far in the tournament. Matt Henry and Trent Boult take the new ball, backed up by paceman Lockie Ferguson and Colin de Grandhomme, Jimmy Neesham or Santner.

Their batting line-up has been stable, with Martin Guptill and Colin Munro at the top, followed by Williams, ex-captain Ross Taylor and Tom Latham.

West Indies have been relying on pace but opposing teams have adjusted to the tendency to over-use the short ball.

All-rounder Andre Russell has been struggling with knee injuries, leaving more overs to share between Sheldon Cottrell, Holder, Oshane Thomas and Shannon Gabriel, and Chris Gayle to chime in with his spin.

The 39-year-old Gayle is due for a big innings, having opened the tournament with a half century against Pakistan but failed with a duck against Bangladesh. This is Gayle’s last World Cup, and the self-described ‘Universe-Boss’ won’t want it to be effectively all over at Old Trafford.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2019