South Africa defeated West Indies by eight wickets to open their account in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, West Indies’ loss means that the defending champions would now need a miracle to enter the next stage of the tournament. In this article, we take a look at how Twitter reacted to Lendl Simmons’ slow innings that caused the downfall of the West Indies.
Lendl Simmons’ slow innings loses the game for West Indies
Put in to bat first, West Indies actually had a decent start. While Evin Lewis was going guns at one end, his partner Lendl Simmons was struggling to middle the ball. In the opening partnership of 73 runs, while the southpaw had a 56-run contribution, Simmons almost had nothing to show for. Even worse, he wasted deliveries that put the other batsmen under pressure. Eventually, West Indies could manage just 143 runs in the first innings.
South Africa lost an early wicket but Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen put on a show to help the Proteas chase the target. The West Indian bowlers did not have much of an impact on the game. With this, the two-time champions might exit from the tournament within the next few games.
Twitter reacts to the opener’s poor knock
It was an uncharacteristic inning from Lendl Simmons. He is usually known to be a power-hitter but he failed miserably against South Africa. In 35 deliveries, he managed to score only 16 runs. His knock did not include even one boundary. Had he put a couple of deliveries to the fence, West Indies could have been in a much better position. His knock can be considered as the major reason for the loss. Twitter reacted to the knock by Simmons and let out their views on how it impacted the outcome of the game.
Lendl Simmons has probably played the worst ever knock of the T20 World Cup – 16 (35).
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 26, 2021
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With a Batting Impact of -19.9, Lendl Simmons' innings today is the worst of the tournament so far according to the Match Impact model. It's the 15th lowest Batting Impact for any innings at any T20 World Cup. #T20WorldCup #SAvWI
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) October 26, 2021
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South African players after dismissing Lendl Simmons. #WIvSA #SAvWI pic.twitter.com/dUDa3klbGO
— S A A D 🇵🇰 (@SaadSays22_) October 26, 2021
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Still can't understand that inns by Lendl Simmons, I mean seriously? Playing at a SR of 45 in a T20 game with facing 35 balls and making only 16 runs. #WIvSA
— 𝑻𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓 (@Cric_Tushar) October 26, 2021
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West Indies 65 run opening stand.#SAvWI #LendlSimmons #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/lJJZIzoU1F
Advertisement— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) October 26, 2021
Not lendl simmons with a test cricket score 😭
Advertisement— Dex 🦅 (@PaccTalk93) October 26, 2021
What a thumping win by South Africa! 👏👏
Man of the match should be Lendl Simmons for such a splendid innings. #WIvSA #T20WorldCupAdvertisement— Mandar. (@Mandar12_) October 26, 2021
@mohanstatsman Do we have a lower strike rate than Lendl Simmons knock today in T20 for more than 30 balls faced
Advertisement— Manish Kaushik (@ManishK42208740) October 26, 2021
Lendl Simmons (16 off 33 balls) is a clear example of why option of RETIRING OUT batters can be practiced in T20s and shouldn't be considered an insult to any batter's skills. Batters can struggle to hit/find form on a given day but such inns hurt your team's chances of winning.
Advertisement— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) October 26, 2021
Lendl Simmons will do well to keep his place in the team after that knock. I've seen few poorer T20 innings.
Unless he was told to play that way by the management, which would be even more worrying for Windies fans.
— Adam Sutherland (@ADSutherland_) October 26, 2021
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