West Indies skipper Keiron Pollard was pleased with his superb counter-attacking knock in the first of three T20Is in New Zealand on Friday (November 27).
After a rollicking start, West Indies lost their way. The visitors suffered five wickets for just one additional run after being 58/0 during the fourth over.
Pollard, however, didn't get bog down and took the game back to the opposition with a superlative 37-ball 75 which gave the West Indies what should've been a winning total of 180/7 in a rain-affected 16-overs per side game.
The right-hand batsman brought all his experience and ability into play as he blazed his willow for 8 maximums and 4 fours at Auckland's Eden Park.
Pollard showed his smarts in playing out the two balls he faced from in-form Kiwi pacer Lockie Ferguson (5/21) whose magnificent five-fer threatened to end the contest in the first half.
"Didn't face him. Smart boy," Pollard was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz after the match. "For me, when the bowlers have their tails up, you have to try something as a batter. Sometimes you just have to make one mistake. The rain and the nature of the pitch sort of helped us, with the ball coming through. The opening bowlers were a bit short."
"But he (Ferguson) changed his length and bowled a bit fuller, and that's why he was successful. Again, a daunting task, but these are the situations you train for as individuals, when your team is in trouble you try to get them out."
Ferguson himself was all praise for Pollard's belligerent knock under pressure.
"When you face these guys - especially Kieron, who has been very successful - over the last few months, winning every competition there is, you're under the pump [and at] Eden Park [the margin for error] gets even smaller," he said.
"I thought we bowled a couple of yorkers that only missed by a little bit and they went a long way into the boundary. Once again, we have to look at our plans and execute them better going forward. That's pretty cliche in T20 cricket."
"You have good days and you have bad. If we continue to improve, we'll be better for it. But you've got to tip your hat when a guy plays an innings like that, especially after we got quick wickets but he settled himself and had a quick burst in the end," Ferguson added.
However, the game ended in dispair for Pollard as his team showed lack of discipline with the ball. New Zealand eventually reached the later revised target of 176 in just 15.2 overs. The short boundary dimensions of the ground don't help, but Pollard wished his bowlers weren't so "erratic" with their lines and lengths.
"In terms of our disciplines, in the bowling aspect, I thought we were a bit erratic," he said. "And in international cricket, if you bowl so many no-balls and if you're so inconsistent, you are definitely going to end up on the losing side."
"But it was an entertaining game of cricket for the fans and the general public, something they haven't got to see in a very long time," Pollard signed off.
