Sherfane Rutherford did not conceal his delight after the West Indies secured a Super Eight berth, but the middle-order batter said the former champions need to improve further to achieve the team goal of playing in the T20 World Cup final.
West Indies outsmarted New Zealand by 13 runs here to enter the Super Eight stage from Group C with three wins from as many matches.
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The final of the ongoing T20 World Cup will be held in Bridgetown, Barbados on June 29.
“It’s good to get the Q (qualified) in front of our name. Our aim is to play the last game of the tournament (final). So, we’re going to look to keep improving and keep getting better,” said Rutherford in the post-match press meet.
Rutherford had a big hand in the West Indies victory, smoking an unbeaten 68 off 39 balls with two fours and six maximums.
In fact, the hard-hitting Guyanese batter rescued the West Indies from shaky positions of 76 for 7 and 112 for nine to take them to an eventual match-winning 149 for 9.
It was of little wonder for him to term that knock as the best so far in his career. “I would put it as my best knock. It’s a World Cup, this is my dream. I always wanted to play in the World Cup. I always want to perform in the World Cup.
“I think this one’s going to stay close to my heart and hopefully I can continue to take out good innings like this for my team and for myself,” he said.
Rutherford played down that aforesaid brittleness through the West Indian top and middle-order, saying it’s up to every player to stand up and deliver when it matters.
“We have been playing good cricket. There are good days and bad days and one thing I learned is that a team that’s going to win any tournament, is going to be different players stepping up on each time.
“I think for the past three games, it has been three different players. So, I’m not concerned because that’s what champion teams do,” he said.
The 25-year-old, however, identified strike-rotation as an area the West Indies needed to fine-tune as they go deep into the tournament.
He said it is mandatory to keep rotating the strike because of the slow nature of pitches.
“It’s something that we work hard on. We have our meetings about rotating strike. It’s a bit difficult in this tournament, I would say, so far because of the tough wickets.
“But as a team, our goal is to lessen that buzz. I think good intent is one thing that we spoke a lot about. And you’re going to see a lot of rotation from us,” Rutherford added.
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