ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC) — Captain Kieron Pollard has urged his side to pay attention to the small details and improve their bowling discipline, as they seek to come from behind and win the three-match Twenty20 series against Ireland.
Labelling those areas as the “one percenters”, Pollard said doing the small things properly was often the difference between winning and losing a cricket match, and said the Windies had been guilty of not paying attention to these details.
West Indies slumped to a narrow four-run defeat to Ireland in Wednesday’s opening T20 International here, to leave themselves with the challenge of winning the next two matches in St Kitts at the weekend in order to avoid a third-straight T20 series defeat.
“The attitude of some of the guys in the field, that cost nothing. It’s just a matter of showing up for 120 balls and again, the discipline was out the window again with the wides and no-balls,” Pollard pointed out.
“[There were problems with] backing up and mis-fielding and when we’re batting, not having that urgency running between the wickets.
“We know we’re a good power- hitting team but again when the singles are there, when the twos are there we need to run hard between the wickets and not just settle for one.
“We saw that when Ireland was batting – they hit the ball to a fieldsman and they ran and that is something we didn’t do. At the end of the day, it’s all a learning experience. I was very, very disappointed we didn’t get over the line because we were in the chase for most of the way.
He added: “But it was good to see the batsmen coming out with that sort of intent and that sort of intensity. We have a couple things to speak about [as a team] and now we move on to St Kitts.”
West Indies were under pressure from early as Paul Stirling (95) and Kevin O’Brien (48) smashed a record 93 inside the first power-play, before going on to add 154 for the first wicket.
Though West Indies eventually pulled the scoring back, they found themselves chasing 209 which proved insurmountable, as only opener Evin Lewis with 53 and Pollard with 31, managed to really get going.
“Ireland came out and came hard and they took the initiative in the first 10 overs or so, but I thought the bowlers really came back well when we decided to bowl one side of the wicket and tried to execute our skills,” Pollard said.
“I thought Hayden Walsh in all the carnage that was taking place – he bowled four overs on the trot – was consistent with his line and length as well. So there are still some positives in the bowling aspect but we need to execute our skills properly.”
He continued: “Batting wise, all the way through we were in with a chance but in the last overs we let it slip.”
