ICC World Twenty20: Windies no one-man team - Lendl Simmons
Friday 1 April 2016 10:16, UK
Lendl Simmons says his performance in the West Indies' stunning World Twenty20 semi-final victory over India proves they are not a one-man team.
Chris Gayle is the Windies' most regular batting threat, and he opened the tournament by single-handedly demolishing England - who they will face again in Sunday's final.
But since his blistering century, opener Gayle has scored just nine more runs - five of them against India - and the Windies have had to find other players to get them the final.
Simmons smashed 82 from 51 balls and Andre Russell scored 43 from 20 to guide their side into Sunday's showdown with Eoin Morgan's team in Kolkata.
Andre Fletcher scored 84 not out in their seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka, while Johnson Charles (32) and Marlon Samuels (43) saw them to a three-wicket win over South Africa.
"I think England will certainly be aware that it's not a one-man show in this team," Simmons said.
"Chris Gayle didn't get off but we still managed to get over the line and it was a big total. Even when he didn't perform, we were still able to get up and fight and that shows a lot of character from our players.
"Every one of our players are match-winners in our team. We have a lot of batting power and I think we can chase any run total, we always back ourselves to chase totals."
