West Indies coach Ottis Gibson took heart from the fight shown by his side despite coming up short in the final T20 against New Zealand in Wellington. The visitors are homeward bound after a dismal tour during which they could only register two wins.
"We thought 170 might have been a good score so you could probably argue that we were 10 runs short. [Denesh] Ramdin was outstanding. He played really well tonight for us," Gibson said. "You can work with 160 in T20 cricket and we tried. But you have to give credit to the way Ross [Taylor] played and then the way [Luke] Ronchi came in and took the game away from us. In the end, it's a little bit disappointing to lose but I'm pleased with the effort.
"They gave us a lesson in how to chase in this format. I think in the first game we played, they got a few too many runs and we didn't chase properly at all. We panicked and tonight the way Ross played, steadying the ship and then setting it up for somebody to come and play the way Ronchi did, he played a really good innings"
West Indies complicated their jobs by failing to convert as many as three opportunities on the field, including a botched attempt at running Taylor out when he was only 5. He added 34 more runs to his tally and was crucial in keeping the chase on track for New Zealand. "We dropped a few catches in the field also but then the guys picked themselves up," Gibson said. "In the night, the weather turned, the temperature dropped - pretty uncomfortable temperature for us"
Gibson believed his team will fare better at home against Ireland and England under familiar conditions after back-to-back disappointments on tours to India and New Zealand.
"I don't think all is lost. We are missing a lot of key players and there are players who will come in and strengthen us in the next couple of weeks," Gibson said. "I'm looking forward to the mini-series versus Ireland, England next month and of course, the T20 World Cup.
"We have lots of cricket to be played still. We'll see how [Chris] Gayle is doing and there's [Kemar] Roach and Ravi Rampaul to also come back. I'll have a look to see how [Kieron] Pollard is doing also and we can look forward from there."
He also referred to Marlon Samuels, Darren Sammy and Darren Bravo as crucial absentees who would reinforce his unit once fit.
When asked if the revolving door of players used in the recent trips abroad destabilised his team, Gibson dismissed the notions as well as those suggesting his players were homesick for such a lengthy period of time.
"No, I don't want to get into that sort of stuff. There are some of us who have been here [on tour] longer than others and at the end of the day, this is what you sign up for. We knew it was going to be back-to-back tours and it was going to be tough. You get yourselves up for the big events. We gave guys time off so they can keep their batteries topped up," Gibson maintained.