VISAKHAPATNAM, India, CMC – West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo said yesterday’s victory against India in the second One-Day International was as a result of team effort and their hunger to win.
West Indies beat India by two wickets, their first win on tour, and to keep their hopes alive in the three-match ODI series.
Bravo said the aim was for the main batsmen to score runs and despite losing wickets they were able to maintain focus.
“Great team effort. Holder and Rampaul gave us a good effort, can’t forget young Permaul. Once we got the Indians under 300, we backed ourselves to chase,” he said.
“We planned very well. It was a must-win game for us. We communicated well on the field. The bowlers executed, bowling to MS, the best player in the world, is always difficult. Well done to young Powell, Simmons and Darren Sammy. Myself getting out at a crucial time. Our aim was for one of the top five batters to bat through the innings. We had four half-centuries today, so that was good.”
However, Mahendra Dhoni blames excessive dew for his team’s performance especially as the bowling team.
“There was a lot of dew, was difficult for bowlers to even grip the ball, let along putting it in right areas. Toss was crucial and to take it to the last over was a superb bowling effort. When we went into bowl, there was plenty of dew, and it kept getting worse,” said the Indian captain.
“It was very difficult to score runs and rotate strike. We saw that when they batted as well. If there was no dew, 289 was 400-odd on this pitch with so much turn and bounce.”
West Indies’ Lendl Simmons featured in two crucial partnerships to give life to his side’s resurgence in the series.
Simmons and Darren Bravo scored 100 in a third-wicket stance and then Sammy added 82 with Simmons for the sixth wicket.
“Just knock it around, keep rotating the strike, build a partnership, and bat till the end,” said Simmons, reacting to what he and Sammy were thinking in the middle. “Sammy batted well. We stuck to our gameplan and executed it well.”
