Very happy with how we bounced back, looking forward to next clash: Shai Hope

The West Indies returned to winning ways with a resounding victory against the USA at Kensington Oval, Barbados on Saturday, June 22. Shai Hope, who was one of the star performers on the night, expressed his joy after the team's sensational turnaround following the defeat to England in their first Super Eight fixture.

Hope returned to the side in place of the injured Brandon King and made an instant impact, scoring an unbeaten 82 off just 39 balls, hitting four fours and eight sixes to guide the two-time champions to a nine-wicket win, with 55 balls in the bank. After chasing a 129-run target with consummate ease, the wicketkeeper-batter said that he was happy with how the team fought back after they suffered their first loss in the tournament in the previous game against England.

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“I would say very clinical, especially coming off the loss that we had a couple of days ago. It's great to see the guys understood the assignment today, and we played the cricket that we wanted to play. It's important for us to continue in this vein because we see what's at stake now. But yeah, very happy with the bounce back that we did today and there's a lot more cricket to play, and we're looking forward to it,” Hope told the media in the post-match press-conference as quoted by India Today.

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Windies face the Proteas next in a must-win game

West Indies are set to face South Africa in another crucial encounter in the Super Eights stage on Monday, June 24, in Antigua. The Proteas have won six matches on the trot and seem like a well-oiled machine. However, Hope asserted that the Caribbean side is looking forward to the challenge.

“Not entirely the main aim today, coming out in the meetings as well, was just to get the win and ensure we play our cricket and the important thing is to focus on our skills, not necessarily get too far ahead of ourselves, because we understood the importance of winning the game first and foremost, because if we didn't win the game then we know what's going to happen — so winning the game and as long as we tick our boxes, then I think the rest will take care of itself and I guess that's what happened to it,” the Caribbean cricketer added.