‘McCoy is a bit of a freak and we need to deal with him, but today he was excellent’ – West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran
By Prior Beharry
THE best bowling figures by a West Indian in a T20 International by Obed McCoy and a fifty by opening batsman Brandon King were the key performances in a victory over India at Warner Park in St Kitts on Monday.
It means that West Indies have levelled the five-match series after a defeat in the first match at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy at Tarouba in Trinidad last Friday.
The home captain Nicholas Pooran again won the toss and sent in India to take first strike. McCoy got India skipper Rohit Sharma with the first ball of the innings caught by Akeal Hosein at short third man. His first over was a wicket maiden.
Hardik Pandya top scored with 31 from the same number of balls.
Ravindra Jadeja and Rishbah Pant filled in with 27 and 24 respectively to take India to 138 all out with two balls to spare.
McCoy figures of 4 for 17 in his four overs were also the best by any bowler against India in this format of the game.
Jason Holder had two wickets in his 3.4 overs with Alzarri Joseph and Akeal Hosein one each.
West Indies started the game slower than India but held on to their wickets.
King batted until the 16th over to get to 68 off 52 balls with eight 4s and two 6s.
Stand-in wicket keeper Devon Thomas came in at number five after Pooran (14) and Shimron Hetmyer (6) went cheaply. He made 31 from 19 balls that included a 6 off a free hit in the final over and a boundary to end the game with four balls to spare.
Winning captain Pooran after the game said, “I can finally breathe now. It has been a tough summer, we have lost a couple of close games. Happy to cross the line.”
He commended his bowlers including the Man of the Match McCoy.
Pooran said, “(The) bowlers were fantastic. Obed McCoy. They used the pitch, the conditions, the wind well. The batters got us off to a good start, and even though we stumbled, a win is a win in the end. I believe that in T20 cricket our better batters have to bat more.”
He said, “King batted really well, thought he should win the game for us, but he will learn from this. Thomas returned from an injury and came trumps in his home ground. McCoy is a bit of a freak and we need to deal with him, but today he was excellent. Was smart bowling to Dinesh Karthik, lovely to have him in the team. Good to have the left-arm option as well.”
Losing captain Sharma said he needed more runs. “It was not enough runs on the board for us. We didn’t bat well. Pitch was playing quite nicely but we didn’t apply ourselves. But that can happen. I have said again and again that when you are trying something as a batting group, it won’t work out always. We will try to see our mistakes and look to correct them,” he said.
The games started three hours late after the players’ luggage did not arrive on time from Trinidad where the first game was played.
Arshdeep Singh had to share his jerseys with at least two other of his teammates.
The third games takes place tomorrow at the same venue.
