by HAYDN GILL in AntiguaAN HOUR after the West Indies lost a second successive Digicel Twenty20 International to South Africa yesterday, the players were still on the outfield of the Vivian Richards Stadium.Coach Ottis Gibson, probably disappointed that his side lost to South Africa by one run, put the players through a series of sprints that finished just before 6:20 p.m.A few minutes earlier, captain Chris Gayle made no excuses for the defeat and questioned the state of mind of some of his batsmen.“It is a pressure situation. The mindset is just not right. They may be a bit too worried about the position,” he said.“It’s blatant. It’s not right. We need to have discussions on it. The guys need to free up and go out there with a free mind to play some good cricket.”It was the second straight day that West Indies failed to overhaul a gettable target set by South Africa.The previous day, they lost by 13 runs when going after 137. This time around, defeat by one run after South Africa made 120 for seven left the crowd searching for answers.“We should have won that game . . . no doubt about it. To chase 120 runs, I don’t see why we shouldn’t get it, but we didn’t get it,” Gayle said.“It’s very disappointing but credit must go to the bowlers. I thought they bowled well on an on-and-off pitch. In the end, we allowed the run rate to climb up a bit too much. We should have tried to take a few more chances.”On a pitch that was difficult throughout, West Indies reached 77 for two in the 15th over by which time the run-rate had mounted to 8.60 an over.Dwayne Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were at the crease and Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy and Narsingh Deonarine were to follow.None could win it for West Indies.“We have quite a few experienced guys in the team, guys who have been in big situations before. Experience is not a problem,” Gayle said.“It’s up to the individual. They have to look into themselves and try and redeem themselves as quickly as possible. “I can’t do it for them. I have a lot to think about as well. It is up to the individuals to try and get over these situations as quickly as possible.”
Losing WI do sprints
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