Sammy''s self-belief intact despite heavy loss in WC opener

New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) Unfazed by the heavy loss toSouth Africa in their World Cup opener, West Indies cricketcaptain Darren Sammy said his team remains upbeat and capableof defeating any side in the coming matches.

West Indies went down by seven wickets against theProteas which pushed them to ninth, behind Bangladesh, in theICC ODI rankings. But Sammy said the Windies continue to backthemselves for a good run in the mega event.

"I think we''ve got to have that self-belief. We know whatwe are capable of doing and as long as we play to our fullpotential we could beat any team on the day. But we just haveto be consistent in our performances," Sammy said after thematch at the Ferozeshah Kotla last night.

Sammy said the 222 posted by his side was too low a scoreand the Windies should have at least managed 270.

"Before the match everybody was uncertain as to how thepitch would play but looking at it, we should have scored270-plus on the wicket," Sammy said.

"I think losing the wickets in clusters really hamperedour total. We had guys getting starts but they didn''t carryon," the 27-year-old added.

Even while defending, Sammy said the Caribbeans gotopportunities to come back into the match but did notcapitalise.

"We created opportunities but we didn''t capitalise onthem and AB de Villiers batted like a senior player and thatbrought South Africa home.

"We saw how de Villiers applied himself and battedthrough and scored 100 so I think you just have to applyyourself like in any cricket, whether it be Tests, Twenty20,you''ve got to be out there in the middle to really scoreruns," he said.

Sammy said failure to build partnerships cost them thematch in the end. He also said that the all-rounders in theteam such as Kieron Pollard and himself did not perform uptoexpectations.

On whether he was surprised by the South African strategyof picking three spinners against them, Sammy said, "Theconditions probably dictated their decision. The conditions inthe sub-continent help the spinners and they will have a bigrole to play in the World Cup."

He said that the team lost too many wickets in the laterstages of the innings and that prevented them from putting upa big total on the board.

One of the few positives from the game was Dwayne Bravo''shalf brother Darren''s fine World Cup debut in which he scored73 runs.

"Most people compare him to Brian (Lara) and he reallylooks like Brian. He''s a good asset for us," Sammy said.

"That was the kind of innings we knew he could play andall I would say is that he needs to go on when he gets to 50,to transform it into a 100 which I''m sure he will do beforethis World Cup is over," he added.