AHMEDABAD, India – A stuttering West Indies will be focused on “winning the key moments” when they face India in the final One-Day International of the three-match series on Friday.
The Caribbean side appeared out of their depth, especially batting-wise, in the opening two matches and lost the first by six wickets and the second by 44 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
With the series already gone, salvaging pride will be foremost on the minds of the visitors, who have won only a single game of each series on Indian soil going back two decades.
“[We have to] definitely [win] the key moments of the game,” said Nicholas Pooran, who led the side in Kieron Pollard’s absence for last Tuesday’s second ODI.
“[We also have to] acknowledge where are the key moments of the game, and tryto stay in the present for as long as possible.
“When batsmen are in, [we have to] just try to win the game for the team and do what’s right for the team at that moment.”
The batting woes which plagued West Indies last month in their shock 2-1 series defeat to minnows Ireland, have followed them onto the subcontinent.
In the opening game, West Indies could only muster 176, with only all-rounder Jason Holder with 57 and Fabian Allen, 29, passing 20.
And despite restricting the hosts to a relatively modest 237 in the second outing, West Indies struggled in their run chase, dismissed for 193 off 46 overs.
Pooran, who has now scraped 43 runs from his five ODI innings this year, said situation awareness was key to West Indies churning out better totals.
“The last couple of games we haven’t been batting well as a team. I know Jamaica was tough with the conditions batting first there,” he explained.
“Here so far, I can say in some situations we were not aware of what was best for the team at the moment and we put our hands up there for that.
“We kept losing wickets [in the second ODI] after developing a partnership, especially losing soft wickets. Everytime someone is set we tend to get out at the wrong time. The top five, top six batsmen didn’t put our hands up and [do it together] for the team.”
Despite the failings of the batsmen, Pooran praised his side’s bowling, especially the effort during the last ODI to keep India’s powerful batting under wraps.
“I was very impressed. The guys went back and did their homework. They identified their faults in the last game and had the opportunity to correct them,” Pooran said.
“I thought we bowled extremely well to all the batsmen. We kept some really tight lines, utilised the conditions and I’m really happy for the guys.”
SQUADS:
INDIA – Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Ishan Kishan, Shahrukh Khan
WEST INDIES – Kieron Pollard (captain), Fabian Allen, Nkrumah Bonner, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr. (CMC)
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