St.Lucia:
West Indies captain Chris Gayle apologized to home supporters for an "absolutely terrible" display as the hosts exited the World Twenty20 in humiliating fashion in St.Lucia on Tuesday.
Gayle's team needed a convincing win over Australia to qualify for the semi-finals but hopes of such a victory disappeared after they were bowled out for just 105 in this day/night fixture at the Beausejour Stadium.
Opening batsman Gayle, who won the toss, was dismissed second ball and the part-time off-spinner ended the match with a ludicrous bouncer which went for five wides as Australia won by six wickets with 22 balls to spare.
"First let me apologize to the fans, to get knocked out of the T20 is a tough one," Gayle said at the post-match presentation. "The display was absolutely terrible."
The West Indies were on the back foot after Gayle was bowled by left-arm quick Dirk Nannes, the tournament's leading wicket-taker, and they then suffered a dramatic middle-order collapse.
"It's a pressure situation, losing early wickets (and) the guys kind of crumbled in the middle," Gayle said.
"Nobody built a partnership and got a big total on the board. I'm very disappointed."
Australia, who was knocked out of last year's World Twenty20 in the first round, will now return to Beausejour Stadium on Friday for a semi-final against defending champions Pakistan.
"We've done well so far and it was nice to finish with another win and now we look forward to the semi-final," Clarke said.
"But if we lose there we're knocked out, what's happened previously is irrelevant now.
"The bowlers performed well again and hopefully on Friday we can continue this momentum into the final.
"It will be very tough, Pakistan is always very tough, especially in these conditions," Clarke said.
Gayle's team needed a convincing win over Australia to qualify for the semi-finals but hopes of such a victory disappeared after they were bowled out for just 105 in this day/night fixture at the Beausejour Stadium.
Opening batsman Gayle, who won the toss, was dismissed second ball and the part-time off-spinner ended the match with a ludicrous bouncer which went for five wides as Australia won by six wickets with 22 balls to spare.
"First let me apologize to the fans, to get knocked out of the T20 is a tough one," Gayle said at the post-match presentation. "The display was absolutely terrible."
The West Indies were on the back foot after Gayle was bowled by left-arm quick Dirk Nannes, the tournament's leading wicket-taker, and they then suffered a dramatic middle-order collapse.
"It's a pressure situation, losing early wickets (and) the guys kind of crumbled in the middle," Gayle said.
"Nobody built a partnership and got a big total on the board. I'm very disappointed."
Australia, who was knocked out of last year's World Twenty20 in the first round, will now return to Beausejour Stadium on Friday for a semi-final against defending champions Pakistan.
"We've done well so far and it was nice to finish with another win and now we look forward to the semi-final," Clarke said.
"But if we lose there we're knocked out, what's happened previously is irrelevant now.
"The bowlers performed well again and hopefully on Friday we can continue this momentum into the final.
"It will be very tough, Pakistan is always very tough, especially in these conditions," Clarke said.
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