"Zero attempt to assess the situation and pitch" - Fans react to West Indies' batting collapse against New Zealand in 2024 T20 World Cup

West Indies were reduced to 112-9 in the 18th over before a single-handed effort by Sherfane Rutherford steered them to 149-9 in the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup clash against New Zealand. The match is being held at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.

The Windies were put into bat by the Blackcaps and instantly faced the wrath of the new-ball attack. Left-arm seamer Trent Boult struck in his first over to dismiss Johnson Charles for a duck.

The rest of the top order crumbled in the latter portion of the powerplay and West Indies soon found themselves at 30-5 in the seventh over. Pooran was the sole batter in the top five to record double figures as all of New Zealand's pacers contributed with the new ball.

All-rounders Andre Russell, Akeal Hosein, and Romario Shepherd chipped in with little cameos, but they perished soon enough, like the batters before them.

Fans criticized the West Indies' blind batting approach without assessing the conditions on offer.

Here are some of the reactions on X:

"After seeing West Indies batting I don't think IndvsUSA was the last game at New York," one tweet read

"West Indies batting approach is the complete anthesis of Pakistan's conservative batting," one fan remarked

"West Indies cricket summed up for you right there folks," another tweet read

"My plan was to bat deep and back myself to make it count and I did that" - Sherfane Rutherford

Sherfane Rutherford ended up unbeaten on 68 off 39 deliveries, scoring almost half of the entire West Indies tally. The left-handed batter played alongside the tail, saw off the main bowlers, and switched gears in the final two overs of the innings.

He took on Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner to score 37 runs and push his side towards a competitive score in the end.

"Want to thank God for the opportunity. Good feeling to play a World Cup match and this is what we work hard for and strive for, thankful I could make a contribution. My plan was to bat deep and back myself to make it count and I did that. Was telling whoever came out to bat, that even small contributions count," Rutherford said during the innings break

New Zealand are set to kickstart their run-chase attempt with their opening pair Devon Conway and Finn Allen at the crease.