West Indies defeated Bangladesh by 3 runs to stay in contention.
Following the West Indies' thrilling win against Bangladesh in ICC T20 World Cup 2021 clash on Friday (October 29), stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran gave health update about skipper Kieron Pollard who had to retire ill and did not take the field.
West Indies finally managed a win under their belt in the T20 World Cup 2021. After suffering two disappointing losses against England and South Africa, the ‘Men in Maroon’ defeated Bangladesh by 3 runs to gain two important points.
Asked to bat first, West Indies found it difficult to score runs against the likes of Bangladesh spinners and found themselves tumbling at 62/4 at the end of the 13th over.
However, Nicholas Pooran came out all guns blazing and scored quick-fire 40 runs to help his team post a decent total of 142 runs on the board.
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Defending the target, West Indies kept everything tight with the ball as every bowler chipped in and took wickets at regular intervals to put Bangladesh under immense pressure.
With 13 runs needed off the last over, Andre Russell held his nerves and executed his yorkers brilliantly to hand his team their first victory of the tournament.
During West Indies innings, skipper Kieron Pollard in the 13th over retired himself ill and went back to the pavilion when on 14. He, however came back to bat in the last over and smashed the last ball for six but didn’t take the field in the second innings.
Stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran after the match gave a health update about Kieron Pollard saying that he looks fine and the medical team is assessing him.
He lauded Pollard as a skipper saying that even after walking back in the dressing room he came out to bat for his team and as young players they try to be like him.
“He (Pollard) looks fine, the medical team is still working with him but he should be okay. You can see why he's a wonderful leader, walking back in to hit that last-ball six. We try to be someone like that in the future," Nicholas Pooran said at the post-match presentation.
Pooran admitted that though it’s difficult to manage the players, they all support him. He rued the missed catches but said they had the belief and they backed their experience to close the game.
"It's tough managing all the players, but everyone gives me full support. All hands on the deck on the field. Unfortunately we didn't really take all our catches, but the belief was there. We backed our experience to close out the game,” he said.
While talking about his performance, Nicholas Pooran, who was awarded the Player of the Match, said that as a batter he felt that he needed to put his hand up for the teams especially when the batting department is struggling.
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He revealed that he worked very hard in the last couple of months but the results didn’t go his way. He said that he’s always confident and positive about his attitude and skills.
“Tactical move (to go lower down the order). We talk about batsmen taking responsibility and doing what's needed for the team. The batting hasn't clicked yet and we needed to put our hands up. I felt as a cricketer and a batsman I needed to put my hand up.
“I have been working very very hard for the last couple of months, things just hadn't gone my way. I hadn't been doing myself justice, giving away my wicket. I'm always confident and positive about my attitude and skills," he said.
(PTI inputs)