After making a substantial contribution in ensuring that the West Indies maintains their grip in the ongoing Test series, with his brilliant spells of 5/59 and 8/62, Shannon Gabriel is delighted to have taken 100 Test wickets along the way.
The right-arm fast bowler has seen a lot of ups and downs in his long vigil but is finally seeing his hardwork resulting in rewards. He has been magnificent in this series against Sri Lanka.
Shannon was quoted saying, after the game at St. Lucia ended in a draw, as, “It's a great feeling, If someone told me, ‘Shannon, you'll play Tests and take 100 wickets’, I would've told him, ‘you're crazy!’ I'd like to thank family and friends for supporting me"
“I was prepared well for this series, getting myself fit. As long as you get wickets, pains and aches go away. I was supported well by Kemar (Roach), he was unlucky. Miguel Cummins kept coming at the batsmen. (Jason) Holder was also very good. Anything other than a loss is good. We can take plenty of positives from this Test.”
West Indies Captain Jason Holder is extremely happy with the way things have panned out but he seeks crucial improvement from his team that now leads the series 1-0 before the third match in Barbados.
“Getting wickets off no-balls is a concern, something we need to pay attention to. We were better overall, were a lot more behind the line. But it hasn't gone unnoticed, We played reasonable cricket, probably not at our best, We weren't as consistent and disciplined as we should have been. They played well. All in all, a decent effort, I thought we were more clinical in Trinidad.”
Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lankan Captain realises his team were just 5 wickets away from leveling the series and so, he is pleased with the turn around in performance from his team after the one-sided defeat at Trinidad.
“I'm really happy with the way we played through the five days, we played outstanding cricket. Weather permitting, there was a chance, but pleased overall, Credit to the West Indies bowling attack, they've got some good bowlers. It's hard to score big runs in these conditions. We have to improve a little more as a team. Credit also to Gabriel, his hard work has paid off.”
(Inputs from CricketNext)
