Good sleep secret behind Simmons gem in World T20 semis

Mumbai - The secret to it [unbeaten knock against India] was his familiarity with the Wankhede Stadium as well as some good shut-eye.

He wasn't even supposed to be here so soon, not for the World Twenty20 at least. Lendl Simmons was to check in with his Mumbai Indians squad ahead of the IPL, which begins at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 9.
The West Indian was supposed to land on Friday but jetted in on Tuesday itself. And while the Mumbai Indians may have been pretty thrilled on the evidence of what he did on their backyard that is the Wankhede on Thursday night, thousands and thousands of Mumbaikars and more than a billion Indians, were left silenced and in despair.
The 31-year-old came in, rode on a slice of luck, and put India to the sword. More pertinently, Simmons dashed India's hopes of a third appearance in the World Twenty20.
It was quite a surprise on how Simmons, called up to replace the injured Andre Fletcher, could cope so well with the jet lag after a long haul journey across continents and over two flights. But the Trinidadian, who scored a career-best unbeaten 82, said the secret to it was his familiarity with the Wankhede Stadium as well as some good shut-eye. "I was very rested for this game.
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I slept on both flights. I came here and I slept the night. In the morning I had practice. After that I slept from 3-10pm. I slept again from 12pm-4pm. So, I was very rested," Simmons smiled and said after the game.
"I was coming here and I was supposed to leave on Friday to come to Mumbai to get ready for the IPL. I saw it as an opportunity to come and get ready for the IPL as well. Seeing this is my home ground as well I know the conditions, think I read it well," he added.
Set to get 193 after India's Virat Kohli's smoked a blistering unbeaten 89, the West Indies suffered an early blow after Chris Gayle was dismissed. Marlon Samuels too departed and the Windies were 19 for two, when Simmons arrived.  
And he said that he was under no illusions on how to go about it. "When I went out to bat, I had a clear mind of what I wanted to do because we had a target to chase. But before the game I was a bit nervous. I was under a bit of pressure as the guys said I came here for a job. But all in all, it was good. We had a target to chase and we got there in the end," said Simmons.
Simmons also said that the chase proved that the West Indies were not just a one-man show and lauded the character of the team. "India will certainly be aware that it is not a one-man show in this team. Chris Gayle did not get off tonight but we still managed to get over the line and it was a big total. Seeing that he did not perform and we were still able to put up a fight and win the game with balls to spare, shows a lot of character from our players," he said.
"Every one of our players is a match-winner in our team. Sammy to bat, Bravo to bat, Russell came in, he played his part, Ramdin still to bat. We have a lot of batting power and any total anyone makes, we can chase it. We always back ourselves to chase totals," he added.
james@khaleejtimes.com