West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard on Sunday (20th February) expressed his disappointment after his side suffered a 17-run loss in the third T20I against India in Kolkata. He also talked about the positives from their tour to Asian nation.
With 17 runs loss in the final T20I against India, West Indies suffered a 3-0 whitewash. Bowling first, after winning the toss, the Kieron Pollard side were off to a brilliant start as they reduced hosts to 93/4 at the end of 14 overs.
But after that, they failed to cash on the momentum as the duo of Suryakumar Yadav (65) and Venkatesh Iyer (35*) was at their rampaging best. They stitched 91 runs partnership to help India post a total of 184 runs on the board after a sloppy start.
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Chasing the target, West Indies were jolted with early blows and found themselves tumbling at 26/2. However, after that Nicholas Pooran (61) and Rovman Powell (25) counter-attacked Indian bowlers and brought their team back on track.
But after Harshal Patel sent Rovman Powell back in the hut, the visitors lost the next three wickets in quick succession of time. Pooran and Romario Shepherd (29) kept their side in the hunt and put India under pressure. But in the end, Indian bowlers held their nerves well as the Kieron Pollard-led side fell short of 17 runs.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Kieron Pollard admitted that they were in the game for the first 15 overs but conceding 85 runs in the last 5 overs put them on the back seat. He remarked that with the bat too they had a great start but they failed to capitalise on it.
He lauded Nicholas Pooran for his consistency in the series and also praised Rovman Powell for his heroics.
“We were in the game for 15 overs, but we gave them 85-odd in the last five. We did have a good start with the bat, were 70-odd in 7 or 8 overs and weren't able to capitalize. Nicholas showed his consistency. Rovman Powell showed he wants to be part and parcel of the white-ball teams,” Kieron Pollard said.
Read Also: Cricket fraternity reacts as Suryakumar Yadav-Venkatesh Iyer cause carnage to take India to 184/5
While talking about the positives from their tour to India, Kieron Pollard said that his side responded well to challenges. He highlighted that they had a great chance to win the ODI series as they bundled out the hosts for 230-odd in the last two games.
He added that his side is finding its foot and are looking forward to what the future holds for them. He stressed that they went with the experienced team in T20 World Cup 2021 and it didn’t work for them and now they are focused on what they have.
“Coming to India is going to be difficult but the way the boys responded was good on our part. From the ODI perspective, we had a chance to win that series, bowling them out for 230-odd in the second game and last game, so it is not all doom and gloom.
“These guys are finding their foot, it is like on the job training for them and we look forward to see what the future holds. From the T20 perspective, we went with experience for the (2021) World Cup and didn't get the job done, but now we are working with what we got,” he said.
(Star Sports inputs)
