West Indies limited-overs captain Kieron Pollard has dedicated the One Day International (ODI) series win to his late uncle after winning the second ODI against Sri Lanka on Friday (March 12) at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ongoing three-match ODI series.
Pollard’s uncle Steven passed away on the morning of the second ODI against Sri Lanka and the captain said it was one of the hardest days in cricket for him as he became a cricketer because of him.
He further hailed his team’s efforts after thrashing Sri Lanka by 5 wickets in the second ODI to take an unassailable lead in the three-match ODI series on Friday. With the final ODI scheduled for March 14, Pollard hopes to whitewash the Islanders in the home series.
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West Indies had won the toss and chose bowl first and Pollard said the move was the best option to win the game for the hosts, as Jason Mohammed scalped 3 wickets and Alzarri Joseph took 2 wickets to restrict the Islanders to 273/8 with Jason Holder and Akeal Hosein taking 1 wicket each.
Chasing the total, West Indies got off to a fantastic start as the openers Evin Lewis and Shai Hope played knocks of 103 and 84 respectively and put on 192 runs for the first wicket, though Sri Lanka managed to take five wickets, but Nicholas Pooran (35*) took the hosts over the line by 5 wickets with 2 balls to spare.
Pollard said after the game, “At the end of the day, we take the win. Evin scored a hundred, we asked that in the dressing room. Hope again scoring runs and it was nice to see Pooran finish off the game. It was a total team performance today. Our best chance of winning the game was chasing.”
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The skipper further added, “In T20s, we didn't do well. Good to see the boys sticking to their roles and responsibilities. Congrats to the bowlers as well, they bowled well. Jason Mohammed picked three wickets today, Joseph took a couple of upfront and other bowlers did well as well. You can't have a perfect game. It's a matter of understanding situations.”
He signed off by saying, “We have won the series. We look at the positives and try to fix that. Each game is very important, we are going to come and see if we can win 3-0. Today has been one of the hardest days in cricket for me as an individual. The guy who is responsible for me playing cricket, uncle Steven passed away this morning. I dedicate this series win to you.”
Noteworthy, West Indies and Sri Lanka will now lock horns in the third and final ODI on Sunday (March 14) at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground. They will also play a two-match Test series from March 21.
(With ANI Inputs)
