Captain Jason Holder was left “extremely disappointed” by another lacklustre West Indies batting performance on Sunday, 11th August, and urged his teammates to take responsibility and ownership after the hosts were beaten in the second One Day International (ODI) by India in Port of Spain.
Chasing 280, West Indies were looking well on course and at one time the equation was in their favour thanks to Evin Lewis (65) and Nicholas Pooran (42), but the loss of wickets at regular intervals turned the match in favour of India, as they eventually lost the match by 59 runs on DLS method.
However, Holder hailed his bowlers for their brilliant job in very hot and humid, tough conditions at the Queen's Park Oval as the hosts managed to restrict India to a chaseable total of 279 for 7.
Holder told media at the post-match press conference, “Extremely disappointed. We had the game in our hand. We bowled well to come back in the end. The wickets in the end cost us. We've got to take responsibility. One of the main things is when you get in, you've got to go deep.”
He signed off by saying, “I must commend the bowlers. It was very hot and humid, tough conditions to bowl. We've got to take responsibility and ownership as batters.”
Meanwhile, India captain Virat Kohli said: “Good outing with the bat. Exactly why we wanted to bat first if you saw the latter half of West Indies' innings. I think the rain helped them in the middle, otherwise, it would have been even tougher to bat. The middle overs were important to string as many dot balls as possible.
The ball got wet every time it went out into the outfield. It was difficult to grip. We thought it was a tricky situation if we didn't get wickets there. It was just about staying there, getting one wicket and put pressure."
Kohli, who scored 120 in the second ODI, hailed young batsman Shreyas Iyer, who scored 71 and stitched 125 runs partnership for the fourth wicket with his captain to help India to win the second ODI here. He signed off, “Shreyas is a confident guy, he's got the right attitude and made it easier for me.”
Noteworthy, the third and final ODI of the MyTeam11 ODI Series will be held at the same venue – The Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Wednesday, 14th August.
(With Trinidad & Trobago Guardian Inputs)
