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West Indies T20 captain Shai Hope was candid in his reflection after the maroon succumbed to a 13-run loss against Pakistan in the third and final T20 on August 3, which resulted in the visitors seizing a 2-1 series win at Lauderhill in Florida.
Despite levelling the three-match tie with a victory in the second contest, West Indies failed to save face in the decider and lost their second consecutive T20 home series in two weeks. They were swept 3-0 by England in a T20 series June and won a rain-affected series with Ireland 1-0.
Pakistan’s top-order shone brightly in the US, batting first, as West Indies’ bowlers toiled in the decider, and only found the breakthrough in the 17th over. Pakistan scored 189/4 from their 20 overs and went on to restrict the Windies to 176/6.
Hope said his team struggled to find the breakthrough.
“There’s something about this game of cricket. You don’t always get what you want,” Hope said in the post-match. “When you come out to bowl, the aim is to get early inroads, put the opposition under pressure – similar to what we did in the first two games. It just didn’t happen. They actually played a lot better today.”
Pakistani opener Sahibzada Farhan (74) top scored in the final match after mediocre knocks in the first two while fellow opener Saim Aub (66) also put up a strong display against the maroon bowlers.
West Indies, in reply, seemed on course to surpass the target after opener Alick Athanaze struck a quick-fire 60 from 40 balls, Sherfane Rutherford smoked 51 off 35 balls and series debutant Jewel Andrew’s opening knock of 24.
However, when Roston Chase came in at number four, he hit a painstaking 15 from 12 balls when the hosts needed to accelerate. The Bajan was unceremoniously forced to retire out, the first batsman to retire out in a T20 international between two ICC full members. The tactic seemingly backfired as his replacement, Jason Holder, was bowled out by left-arm wrist spinner Sufiyan Muqeem in the next two balls.
Hope defended the decision to remove Chase in a desperate attempt to reignite the chase.
“It has been happening for quite some time now. We felt as though Jason might have been the one to get the ball away a bit more. So it’s one of those things. The reality is Jason came in and didn’t get going. It could have been the other way around. Roston could have hit three of those balls from Haris Rauf as well for six. It’s just how the game goes sometimes.”
While the West Indies bowlers did manage a late fightback, picking up four wickets in the final four overs, Hope said the surface was more conducive to batting.
The skipper was also pressed by a reporter about the apparent lack of chemistry within the team—something that has been frequently discussed in recent months. His response was brutally honest.
“If I had the answers, we would be winning all the time. So that’s the honest answer right now. I don’t know if you want me to say something else. You’re playing in franchises… Yes, you’re gaining experience. But regardless of what’s happening, you’ve got to come and do it for the region. It’s something that we haven’t been doing. The reality is reality.”
Amid the disappointment, the captain still found reasons to be optimistic. He highlighted the bowling group’s resilience on a batting-friendly St Kitts surface (previous Australia series), and praised young Andrew for showing “some very good class and skill with his batting ability at the top.”
Injuries, too, he said, have disrupted team stability, with the West Indies unable to field a consistent squad across recent series.
“The last 15 or so games, 15 to 20 games, we haven’t really fielded the same squad or same team. Simply because of injuries. So the guys coming in and putting their hands up… that in itself is a positive.”
With key fast bowler Alzarri Joseph absent, Guyanese quick Shamar Joseph was given a chance to prove his T20 credentials. Despite Joseph (1/57) being the most expensive bowler, Hope was confident in his future.
“He showcased he’s got the ability to hit those areas for us… He did it in the first couple of games as well. Every day is not going to be your day. He didn’t have the best of days today. If we want to be competing with the best, beating the best, we’ve got to do it day in and day out more often than not.”
Looking ahead to the upcoming three-match ODI series, which bowls off in Trinidad against Pakistan on August 8, Hope said adaptability as key.
“Every single place we play, conditions are so different. The first thing we need to do is assess to see what’s the best plan to formulate for that pitch surface (Trinidad). You know they’re going to bowl a lot of spinners at us. And the way how we negate those spinners in the middle overs… is going to be very crucial.”

Scores: PAKISTAN 189-4 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 74, Saim Ayub 66, Hasan Nawaz 15, Khushdil Sah 11 not out, Faheem Ashraf 10 not out) vs WEST INDIES 176-6 in 20 overs (Alick Athanaze 60, Sherfane Rutherford 51, Jewel Andrew 24, Roston Chase 15, Gudakesh Motie 10 not out).
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