Sammy: We are desperate to win

"To us, it’s a very important match. We have six steps to the cup. We have taken two; tomorrow it’s about taking one more step towards our goal. That step is South Africa. We respect them when we are playing against them but we as a group will focus on what we can do and go out there and execute it well," Sammy said.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy warming up at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday.

It has won two out of two matches so far. It has the luxury of facing Afghanistan in its last league game. West Indies however wouldn’t want to leave it till the last stage to confirm its slot in the World T20 semifinals.

“We are desperate to win. It’s a position that we are very happy to be in. We win this game and we qualify for the semis for sure, so it’s a must-win game for us tomorrow,” captain Darren Sammy said ahead of his team’s group game against South Africa, to be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur.

“To us, it’s a very important match. We have six steps to the cup. We have taken two; tomorrow it’s about taking one more step towards our goal. That step is South Africa. We respect them when we are playing against them but we as a group will focus on what we can do and go out there and execute it well. We have always had great games against South Africa. Hopefully tomorrow is an exciting match and at the end of the day, West Indies get the two points needed to qualify for the semifinal.”

A Chris Gayle blitzkrieg against England in its opener was followed up by Andre Fletcher making the most of his promotion to the top of the order against Sri Lanka as the Caribbeans marched on. The two knocks have somewhat overshadowed the immaculate performance of its well-oiled bowling unit. With options aplenty and most of the bowlers doing their job to perfection, Sammy, one of the five seaming all-rounders in the squad, hasn’t yet bowled a single ball.

“If you notice, in the first game, we had so many bowling options. I have not bowled in the tournament so far, Chris (Gayle) has not bowled one over. In the first match, the main bowlers didn’t really complete their overs. In the last match, we started so well that I just used five bowlers,” he said.

“In these conditions here, where the ball might grip a little and variation is important, you might see me bowl a couple of overs. That’s the beauty of our team. It’s not about egos or stuff like that. It’s about what’s necessary at the time in the best interest of the team.”