Windies not learning from mistakes: Harper

West Indies are not learning from their mistakes, said coach Roger Harper after his team lost to India in the second Test on Tuesday to crash to their sixth defeat in seven matches.

West Indies, chasing 313 for victory, were beaten by 37 runs after resuming at 131 for two overnight with their two most experienced players, Brian Lara and Carl Hooper, at the crease.

"We had a similar situation against South Africa last year," said Harper after his side went 1-0 down in the five-match series.

"Most of that team was here and we should have learnt from that experience. Unfortunately, once again, we came out short."

The former Test off-spinner did not doubt the hard work put in by the players, but said there were a lot of areas where they had to improve.

"I think I can't fault the effort of the boys, they tried hard," he said.

"We can still pull it back. There are still three Test matches to be played and, if anything, this game confirms that we are very capable of beating this team. But there are areas in our game that we have to improve on."

Captain Hooper was unhappy his team had lost after looking well-placed for victory at the start of the fifth day.

"It's very disappointing," Hooper said. "Coming into the last day we really fancied our chances and it was disappointing how we ended up short."

RIGHT APPROACH

Hooper (22) and Lara (47) fell to left-handed paceman Ashish Nehra in the first session but the West Indies rallied with a 73-run fifth-wicket stand between Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle.

"Right till the very end I thought we had a chance," Hooper said.

The 35-year-old all-rounder said his team had gone into the run chase with the right approach.

"I thought from the outset India would make runs difficult to come by. That's what they did -- they bowled straight and so we knocked it about on the on side and the off side.'

But he said West Indies did not make the most of their chances.

"The thing to do was to capitalise on the bad balls and keep the scoreboard ticking with singles," Hooper said.

"It was a bit unfortunate that we lost Brian and then, almost immediately, myself. That put the pressure on people like Gayle and Chanderpaul."

Gayle, who retired hurt on Monday with wrist cramps, hit 52 and Chanderpaul struck an unbeaten 67 before running out of partners.

"One of the pleasing aspects of this game was the application shown out there by all the tailenders, they did well," Hooper said.

The first match of the series at Georgetown ended in a draw.

Mail Cricket Editor