'There is a lot of buzz in the Caribbean around West Indian cricket'
Despite a valiant bowling effort that nearly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, West Indies were unable to overcome South Africa in the T20 World Cup.
Their hopes of winning an unprecedented third title were dashed but West Indies skipper Rovman Powell remained extremely proud of the progress the 'Men in Maroon' have made in the past year.
Having missed out on qualifying for the ODI World Cup last year, West Indies cricket seemed to have reached an all time low but under Powell's captaincy, they have enjoyed a resurgence and climbed to the third spot in ICC T20 rankings.
"When you look on a large scale, we have not won the World Cup or in the semi-final, but if you look at the cricket we have played in the last 15 months, to go from No.9 to No.3 in the rankings, it is commendable.
"There is a lot of buzz in the Caribbean around West Indian cricket, and now is where the work starts. Continue to work together as a group and make the Caribbean people proud. When we hear the anthem, as players, we feel something and that is heading in the right direction."
After putting up a below-par target the West Indies bowlers put up an impressive display to take the match to the last over.
"Credit has to be given to the boys, they fought till the very end. As a batting group, this is a performance you'd want to forget. We did not bat well in the middle. It was not an easy wicket, especially to get started," Powell said.
"In the middle overs, we lost wickets in clusters. That broke the back of our batting team. It was a commendable bowling effort. We said we wanted to give it our all. They (the team) believed even if it was only 135 (on the board)," Powell concluded.
