Mumbai, April 1 (IANS) Former Australia pacer Brett Lee was on Friday disappointed over India’s shock seven-wicket defeat to the West Indies in the World T20 semi-finals, but credited the wining team’s batsmen for their performance despite hard-hitter Chris Gayle’s early dismissal.
Batting first, India posted a competitive total of 192/2 in 20 overs, thanks to Virat Kohli’s knock of 89 runs.
In reply, a brave Windies side — riding on Lendl Simmons’ unbeaten 83 and Johnson Charles’s 52 — chased down the total posting 196/3 in 19.4 overs.
“I was disappointed for India, of course. When Chris Gayle got out, I said ‘it is going to be one way India’ so it is disappointing. You got to give credit to West Indies, they played really well,” Lee told reporters here after India’s loss on Thursday at the Wankhede Stadium.
India’s star batsman Kohli has been in sublime form in the ongoing tournament where he struck 273 runs in five innings and also took a wicket against the West Indies. The 39-year-old Lee praised Kohli for his consistent run.
“He is a world class player. The way he played last night was brilliant. They did what they could with their batting. At the end of the day, they lost in the last over, it is unfortunate for India,” he said.
In the final at the Eden Gardens on April 3, the West Indies will now face England, who earlier beat New Zealand in the first semis on Wednesday.
Speaking about the much-awaited final, Lee believes that the men from the Caribbean will be hard to beat on Sunday.
“It would be pretty hard to get past the West Indies. They will be very tough to beat,” Lee said.
