Bravo attributes Windies' poor results to lack of unity

Auckland, Dec 27 (IANS/CMC) West Indies ODI captain Dwayne Bravo has attributed the team's poor results recently to lack of unity among the players.

Bravo was speaking after the West Indies scored their first win of their New Zealand tour, beating the home side by two wickets in the first game of the five-match ODI series Thursday.

Bravo, who was not selected for the three-match Test series which the regional side lost two-nil, said he stressed the importance of unity in the lead-up to the first ODI fixture.

"Before we played the game, I really stressed on unity as the team was lacking in that lately and hence the reason why we have been playing so poorly," said Bravo.

"I made a concerted effort to bring everyone together and get everyone involved."

The West Indies hardly impressed in the three-match Test series that preceded the One-Dayers and lost the advantage the few times they held it.

Before that, they struggled in the two-match Test series in India, though they managed to win one of the three ODIs in a close, high-scoring game.

On Christmas morning, a movie depicting the struggles of the iconic Nelson Mandela motivated a battered team.

"We sat down yesterday morning, Christmas morning, and watched Invictus the movie with Morgan Freeman acting as Nelson Mandela. That inspired us," said the ODI skipper.

"It showed the importance of sport. We are fortunate to represent our nation. We are the few players to do that. It hurts our fans when we don't win cricket games, and not only losing, but the way we lose at times."

In the first ODI, the West Indies' revamped bowling attack -- Bravo, Ravi Rampaul and Jason Holder -- ran through the New Zealand lineup to restrict them to 156.

The West Indies were then reduced to 96 for 6 before Darren Sammy slammed 43 not out off 27 balls to get them home with two wickets in hand.

"I keep stressing (on unity), and if you have noticed (after) every wicket I get the team together and one player says something positive," the captain said.

--IANS/CMC

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