West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran said that the hosts failed to hold their nerves in the last six overs, which led them to suffer yet another heartbreaking defeat against India in the second ODI at Queens Park Oval stadium in Port of Spain on Sunday (July 24).
Batting first, West Indies posted 311 runs at the expense of six wickets on the board, thanks to a century from Shai Hope (115) and a half-century from the captain, Nicholas Pooran (75) against Team India.
Defending the total, West Indies had a modest start, but they made many chances to win the match, but the half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer (63), Sanju Samson (54), and Axar Patel (64*) took the touring side over the line in the final over to clinch the ODI series, with the final match to be played on July 27.
After the match, Pooran said that West Indies batted really well, especially Hope, but failed to maintain pressure on India with the ball.
However, the skipper felt the hosts tried really hard to compete. He also insisted that the West Indies are eager to win the final ODI on Wednesday.
Nicholas Pooran said in a post-match presentation: “We lost it in the last overs, Axar played well and we didn't hold our nerves. We could not keep things down in the last five overs. We felt that it got easier to hit spinners. And we gambled with Akeal bowling against left-handers. One wicket would have opened up things but Axar played brilliantly.
Hope's innings was impressive, it was exceptional as a batting group. We wanna win, we wanna win pretty badly in the next game. That's all we are aiming for."
(With ANI Inputs)
