Sammy Confident As West Indies Eye Five In A Row

Sammy Confident As West Indies Eye Five In A Row

Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor (left) and West Indies skipper Darren Sammy pose with the series trophy ahead of the opening Test

©WICB Media/Randy Brooks Photo

West Indies are keen to extend their winning run and make it five Test wins in a row when they take on Zimbabwe in the opening Test, which begins later today in Barbados.

The team is in confident mood after winning the three One-Day Internationals and both Twenty20 Internationals and go into the match as heavy favourites - bet365 going as low as 1/6 for the home side to win.

The run they are on started in Antigua last year, where they beat New Zealand by nine wickets, following it up with another win over the Black Caps and two wins in Bangladesh in November.

Now captain Darren Sammy says his side are ready for their latest challenge. At a press conference ahead of the match, he said:

"We're ready, our preparations have been spot on and we believe we will get the upperhand over Zimbabwe. We have been very professional and disciplined in all we have done so far. We will look to continue the winning ways we had in the One-Day and T20 series.

"The guys are coming in from playing four-day cricket so everyone should be settled and ready to take on the Zimbabweans. Kemar (Roach) and Marlon (Samuels) did not play in the last round of the Regional 4Day tournament but they played for the Sagicor High Performance Centre over the weekend so they got in their preparation as well."

The Sagicor side held Zimbabwe to a draw in their three-day game, Samuels scoring 55 and Roach took a wicket during the game.

Sammy continued: "The goal of the team is to win and make it five in a row. We won’t take Zimbabwe for granted but we know once go out and play the way we did in the last four Test matches we will be successful, but we won’t beat them by saying it. We have to go out and do it on the cricket field."

"We have five days of cricket to win a Test match and we will look to do that. We have to go out and put in the good work. Whatever (pitch) we get we have to go out and do a thorough and professional job.

We don't really see fast and bouncy pitches in the Caribbean these days and we are used to working with what we have. The key is to be focussed and disciplined, to go out and put in the performances to beat the Zimbabweans," he added.

In the six Test matches to date between West Indies and Zimbabwe, there have been four wins for West Indies and two draws.

Their most recent clash came in Bulawayo in 2003, when West Indies won by 128 runs.

© Cricket World 2013