Hooper was one of Andre Adams' four victims
|
West Indies captain Carl Hooper was unable to defend his side's abject batting display as they slipped to a 20-run defeat to New Zealand.
Seeking their second win of the World Cup, the West Indies bowling attack restricted New Zealand to a modest total of 241.
However, Brian Lara's run-out prompted an embarrassing batting collapse from which the Windies never really recovered, crumbling to 221 all out.
Hooper moved quickly to dismiss talk of complacency after the Windies' stunning opening day win over South Africa.
"I don't think it was a case of complacency," he said.
"New Zealand are one of the better teams out there and we definitely wanted to win.
"We bowled well enough. To get 240-odd on a small ground and on a good pitch, we should have got that, but we just didn't bat well enough.
"There is no excuse."
A win would have virtually guaranteed West Indies' place in the Super Six stage of the competition.
Collectively they lacked the zeal they showed last Sunday when they stunned hosts South Africa.
There were some questionable decisions too, such as replacing Pedro Collins with Nixon McLean, and making off-spinner Chris Gayle bowl two of the last three overs.
Ramnaresh Sarwan proved for the second match in succession that he is a huge talent and he must surely bat higher than six in the remainder of the tournament.
Email this story to a friend
Printable version
