West Indies won their final match at the World Cup with a 23-run victory over Afghanistan
West Indies won just twice at this World Cup – against Pakistan and Afghanistan
West Indies’ batsman Shai Hope says the team must learn from their experience at this World Cup after winning just two matches.
Hope was named Player-of-the-Match after top-scoring with 77 in his team’s 23-run victory over Afghanistan in their final match of the tournament.
And Hope believes that there are plenty of lessons for the West Indies to take from their experience in England and Wales.
He said “It was definitely a learning experience, something I will never forget. Playing each game in this format you obviously have to be the better team on the day to progress in the tournament.
“Regardless of what happens in any team we have to go out there and play cricket."
After an emphatic seven wickets victory over Pakistan in their opening match, West Indies fell away.
They failed to capitalise on promising positions against Australia, first in the field and then when they batted, and also lost to New Zealand by just five runs when Carlos Braithwaite failed to clear the ropes for a six which would have given them the game.
He added: “We’ve got to improve from this experience, I’m sure we are going to use this is as a platform for the next four years so we can have something stronger and build more momentum.
“In a tournament like this you have to play your best game each game. If you muck up you are basically out of the tournament.
“I think we lost some of those games in some crucial situations. We basically allowed (Australia) to get that total. I still think we had a decent batting platform to chase the runs and didn’t play the situation as well as we could have.
“New Zealand? Yeah, the same thing. We had them in a spot of bother as well. You have to really grind them and they got away.”
Hope, who scored a century in each innings when West Indies defeated England by five wickets in Leeds two years ago, said he loved batting at Headingley.
“Two years ago I had some fun batting and it’s just nice to get out and perform again here. I’m not sure what it is, the wicket, the atmosphere. Whatever the case may be, I’m happy to bat here.”
Asked what he would miss most about team mate Chris Gayle, who played his final World Cup match on Thursday, Hope smiled and replied: “Probably sun glasses. There are too many things you can pick from Chris.
“Probably the whole world will miss him when he goes. It’s going to be a sad day for cricket.”