India vs Windies | Carlos Brathwaite rues not assessing conditions well after defeat

08/04/2019

West Indies T20I captain Carlos Brathwaite has credited the wrong assessment of conditions for their loss to India on Saturday. Apart from that, the 31-year-old skipper was also delighted to welcome back Kieron Pollard into the team and expressed how important Sunil Narine’s overs were in the game.

Keiron Pollard made a consolidating run-a-ball 49 amidst falling wickets and stayed back till the end only losing his wicket with just three balls to go. The Indian bowlers, especially Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Navdeep Saini, were exceptional as they were able to contain the Windies to a score of 95/9 in 20 overs.

In the end, India secured a convincing victory by four wickets with 16 balls remaining and Windies captain Carlos Brathwaite has said that all they needed to do was assess the conditions better. He, however, lauded the entire bowling effort of his team.

“Once again don't think we assessed conditions, kudos to Kieron coming back into the team. He showed his experience. Had we made 130, it would've been a different game. We batted ourselves out of the game. We have to play positively. The message will continue to be to keep intent, but we need to have better shot selection and awareness. Sunil's four overs very important, he showed his experience, brought us back into the game. Great bowling effort,” said Brathwaite in the post-match presentation, reported ESPNCricinfo.

Amongst the Windies bowlers, 31-year-old off-spinner Sunil Narine produced the best figures of 2/14. It was his first international match since September 2017 and the veteran spinner revealed that he has been trying to stay in the shortest format as long as poossible.

"Always good to be back in maroon. Being able to perform for the country is a proud moment. Fitness is there, finger is now 100%. T20 I'm trying to stay on for as long as I can. Let's see how it goes. We still have to play positively, start well in the Powerplay, whether we're batting or bowling. We've to start winning matches.No new thing (innovation with the ball) at the moment, just enjoying my cricket. Hopefully, you can see good performances in the near future," said Narine.

India have taken a lead of 1-0 in the three-match T20I series with the next match is scheduled to be played on Sunday.