COLOMBO, Sri Lanka,CMC – All-rounder Carlos Brathwaite says he will continue to back himself with his new aggressive approach, as he gears up for Sunday’s start of the three-match One-Day International series against Sri Lanka.
The 27-year-old blasted an astonishing 113 off 58 deliveries as West Indies beat Sri Lanka Cricket President’s XI by 43 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method, in a warm-up one-day game at the R Premadasa Stadium yesterday.
He added an up tempo 193 for the eighth wicket with Andre Russell who smashed 89 from 54 balls, as they pulled West Indies out of trouble at 109 for seven in the 30th over.
Scores: West Indies 318 off 48.4 overs; Sri Lanka President’s XI 103 for three after 21 overs. Thunderstorms ended the game abruptly, with West Indies ahead under Duckworth/Lewis method.
“It obviously gives me a lot of confidence. I got a fifty in the preparation match for the Test game. I was a bit annoyed that I didn’t make a bigger score but thankfully today it came off,” Brathwaite said afterward.
“It’s just about me taking my same process and same method into the ODIs if selected. One thing myself and Russell spoke a lot about is that the way we play won’t always come off, sometimes you will get out and it will seem like a stupid shot, but we will have days when we can take attacks apart and do what we did today.”
The right-hander stroked ten fours and seven sixes – mostly clean shots back overhead – to reiterate the form he displayed in the three-day game at the start of the tour when he belted a top score of 54 from just 46 balls.
Russell chimed in with six fours and Brathwaite said that when he came to the crease, his initial plan was just to sit back and allow his Jamaican partner to dominate the bowling.
“I decided to give him as much of the strike as possible and basically sit back and watch the ‘Andre Russell show’. But I started to hit a few in the middle of the bat and decided to take it from there,” he explained.
“Fortunately, as I got into my groove, everything just flowed and everything just came together as I would have wanted it. I couldn’t have imagined playing that knock when I went out to bat but it just happened and I give thanks to God for giving me the health and strength.
“I wasn’t feeling as well as I wanted to this morning and to be able to do that for the team and put them in a good position – in a match winning position – thanks must go to the Father and to Russell for the partnership that we had.”
Brathwaite had said earlier in the series that he intended to bring a new dimension to his batting, which included imposing himself on bowlers from the start of his innings, and batting aggressively throughout.
And he reiterated that once selected for the upcoming series, he planned to carry the same mind-set into those games.
“[Coach Roddy Estwick] always told me that tall guys are supposed to hit the ball straight and it is something that I didn’t really understand until I actually got it done successfully for a while,” he said in reference to his explosive straight hitting.
Brathwaite is yet to play a Test and has played only four ODIs and two T20Is for the Windies.
