West Indies opener Lendl Simmons has been going through a rough patch in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Whether it is strike rotation or scoring boundaries, Simmons has struggled on every front. Against South Africa, Simmons struggled terribly and could score only 16 runs from 35 deliveries. West Indies’ World Cup-winning member could not score a single boundary during his stay at the crease and got an embarrassing record to his name.
Simmons scored the slowest knock in T20 World Cup for an opener who has faced 30 or more deliveries. The right-handed batter joined Scotland’s Matthew Cross and Bangladesh’s Alok Kapali in the list of batters who have faced 35 deliveries and not scored a single boundary. Cross scored 26 runs whereas Kapali could score only 14 batting in the middle order.
In the previous game as well, Simmons faced seven deliveries and scored just three runs against England where West Indies ended up getting bundled out for 55, their lowest total in the mega event over the years.
While West Indies batting lineup struggled as a unit against England in their campaign opener, Simmons’ opening partner Evin Lewis was going all guns blazing against Proteas bowlers. The opening partnership for the defending champions was 73 in 10.3 overs. His misery came to an end as he got bowled trying to hit a big shot. Lewis went on to score 53 runs from 35 deliveries including three fours and five sixes. Eating up deliveries at the top also had an impact on West Indies’ scoring rate as they lost wickets in clusters trying to accelerate.
With two bad games for Simmons, Kieron Pollard may promote Chris Gayle to his original position and include another bowler in the side as the team bats deep.
