Jason Holder, the Windies captain, was a relieved man after his team surprised India by 11 runs in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) at North Sound, Antigua, to keep their chances of leveling the series alive. With the final ODI to be played on Friday (July 6), India now lead the five-match series 2-1, after the first match was washed out in Port-of-Spain, last Friday.
The hosts defended a below par score of 189 and sent the visitors hurtling for just 178, 11 runs shy of the target. Skipper, Jason Holder, led from the front, finishing with career-best bowling figures of 5 for 27, his first-ever five-wicket haul in ODIs. “We knew we could beat India. Just needed some application,” a jubilant Holder said, at the end of the match on Sunday(July 2).
Kesrick Williams, who bowled the crucial 49th over, conceding just two runs and taking the massive wicket of MS Dhoni, also came under special praise from his captain. “I want to make a special mention of Kesrick Williams – showed a lot of maturity in his second game, showed a lot of heart as well,” the captain said.
Chasing the modest score, India never quite got going, despite Ajinkya Rahane’s steady 60. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli – who looked in fine form during the just concluded Champions Trophy, were dismissed cheaply while Dhoni dawdled his way to an unconvincing 114-ball 54. Holder said that picking early wickets was the key for his team’s victory.
“Throughout the series we’ve spoken about taking new-ball wickets. India’s top order has been doing well” said Holder. “It’s all about getting Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat (Kohli) as soon as possible,” he added.
While the 25-year old Barbadian was thrilled with the end result, he felt that there was scope for a lot more improvements, especially at the batting front. The hosts have made scores of 205, 158 and 189 in the three completed innings so far.
Commenting on his own individual performance, the captain, who has taken plenty of slack over Windies’ dire performances of late, remained unfazed and praised the contribution of bowling coach, Roddy Estwick. “I always believe in myself. I thought I was doing fairly well in the series so far. Only criticism was at the back end. Roddy Estwick told me not to try too many things and just stick to my plans, and that’s what I did,” he concluded.
You can't always be perfect, but you can be progressive.
Jamal Smith
Chart the course and set sail, the wind will do the rest.
Justin Greaves
Life is sweeter when you have an attitude of gratitude.
Fabian Allen
Sweat on the off days, shine on the game days.
Kjorn Ottley
If you want to excel in front of thousands, you'll have to outwork thousands in front of nobody.
Chinelle Henry
Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.
Kesrick Williams
Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.
Fabian Allen
Everyone has a goal, everyone is looking to play as long as possible. Once you put in the work, you will get the results
Stafanie Taylor
It's a great achievement for me to be recognised amongst the top players in the world. It shows me that all the hard work I've been doing over the last year is paying off and being acknowledged. This is motivation to keep working hard and enjoy our sport.
Roshana Outar
You have to love the sport and be dedicated, hard work is the only true way to real success, and once you are committed, the sky is the limit.
Subrina Munroe
WIPA has definitely made a tremendous impact when it comes to women’s cricket, they have made us more visible in the cricketing circles and I must applaud them for putting us on the map where West Indies cricket is concerned.
Danielle Small
We are professionals just like the men, and we want the game to grow even more so that young girls coming up will want to be a part of women’s cricket.
Tremayne Smartt
My take on women’s cricket is that it has grown, but it can grow a bit more once we continue to support it.
Britney Cooper
You can’t go through life without struggles, and with those struggles, lessons are learnt where you can only grow from it all.
Stafanie Taylor
To think that a girl like me from the inner-city would have made such impact… that I would be recognized by my country, is beyond anything I would have expected.
Ashley Nurse
For me, being a debutant you have nothing to lose. You just have to go out and give it your all.
Brian Lara
My first bat was shaped out of a coconut branch by my brother, and from that day, all I wanted to do was to be a West Indian cricketer.
Devendra Bishoo
The way I look at it, there are no holidays in cricket. I never stop training... rain or shine, I'm playing cricket.
Curtly Ambrose
I didn't like to be friendly with rivals, I wanted them to feel the heat.
