Manchester: 22-year-old left-handed batsman Shimron Hetmyer walked into bat sporting a floppy Richie Richardson-style sun hat. His flamboyant appearance didn't resemble his batting as the southpaw got out off Mohammad Shami's bowling for 18 that saw shambolic Windies heading out of the 2019 World Cup.
Also Read: Kohli beats Sachin, Lara; becomes fastest to score 20000 international runs
Hetmyer's dismissal paved way India's 125 runs win over the Windies, their biggest win against the Carribean side in the World Cup.
Two-time champions, Windies, required a win to keep their hope of making it to the semifinals alive, but they bowed out of the tournament after being bowled out for mere 143 while chasing 269 runs decent target.
While India, who are the only team in 2019 World Cup yet to be beaten, is ready for a top of the table finish, Courtney Browne led Windies selection committee got another tough task in hand. They now have to make tough decisions to reconstruct the Windies team.
Hetmyer's desperate attempt to imitate Richardson, Hooper
Hetmyer's slack approach to the chase and then fizzling out to the pressure just showed the state Jason Holder led the Windies team. The talented Guyanese batsman is known for his beautiful stroke-making. His presence in the middle order was expected to be a plus point for the Windies but his constant failure put Windies' hope for a good show in this World Cup in jeopardy. So far, Hetmyer amassed a total of 189 runs in six matches with the help of two half-centuries.
It will not out of place to say that this Windies team is blessed with raw talents but their lack of intent denied the Maroon Shirts making a serious impact in the mega cricketing tournament.
It was quite surprising to see Hetmyer coming to bat wearing a floppy hat following the footsteps of his predecessors Richardson and Carl Hooper when deadly Indian pacemen were making the life of batsmen hell making full use of green patches at the spongy Old Trafford stadium.
Both Richardson and Hopper were flamboyant in their batting style, and they always made statement playing audacious shots. But on Thursday, Hetmyer's attempt to imitate them in a desperate attempt to make a statement soon made him realise that his maroon floppy sun hat is not enough to guard his head against mighty Indian pacers.
On realising his mistake he soon called for a helmet as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami turned up the heat on Windies bowling fierce spells from either end at a bright and sunny Old Trafford stadium.
In response to 269 runs target, Windies never looked in control. They were patchy and clueless against the Indian bowling attack. While Shami gave India early breakthrough scalping dangermen Chris Gayle and Shai Hope, all-rounder Hardik Pandya trapped opener Sunil Ambris, Windies' top scorer in the match with 31 runs, on the front pad for lbw.
Wrecker-in-chief Shami
Windies' wrecker-in-chief Shami approached traditional style of fast bowling, consistently unleashed good length delivery at green patches with a little bit of nip and took full benefit of an extra bit of bounce offered by Old Trafford pitch to run through Windies top order.
Also Read: 2019 World Cup: Will India-Pakistan clash again?
Windies fell perry to this approach of Shami as the pacer finished the match with a four-wicket haul giving away just 16 runs in 6.2 overs. This spell came after his hat-trick against Afghanistan.
Hetmyer might have made a serious blunder but he along with Nicholas Pooran and Shai Hope are now the faces of Windies cricket.
With batting starlet Chris Gayle is on the verge of retirement, Evin Lewis must up his ante to fill the void of 'Univers boss'.
In comparison to Windies batting order, their bowling attack looked rather settled. With Oshane Thomas, Sheldon Cottrell, captain Jason Holder and Kemar Roach building a strong pace bowling attack for Windies, selectors should work on the batting talents to build a balanced side.
