ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Man-of-the-Match Brandon King has hailed the performances of captain Rovman Powell and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie as “crucial” to West Indies’ ten-run victory over England in the second Twenty20 International.
Powell blasted 50 off 28 balls – his fifth T20I half-century – in an 80-run fifth wicket stand with King (82 not out) to lift West Indies out of trouble at 54 for four and propel them to 176 for seven off their 20 overs at the National Cricket Stadium here Thursday.
Powell smashed four of his five sixes in one over – the 16th of the innings – from left-arm pacer Sam Curran which gushed 30 runs.
“It was extremely crucial. It was a fantastic innings from him. He eased the pressure off me a little bit as well,” King explained.
“Nobody has the power he has; some of the shots, only he can play. So it was very important at that stage of the innings that he got those quick runs in an excellent half-century, and it allowed us as well when Russell came in, for the both of us to do it at the back [end].”
Motie then produced an astonishing spell in only his second T20 International and first in two years, when he sent down four consecutive overs for just nine runs, while accounting for the wicket of Liam Livingstone for 17.
His spell frustrated England in the middle overs, dried up the runs and sent the required run rate skyrocketing.
“It was an excellent spell from him. To bowl four overs for [nine] runs in a T20 game, that’s amazing,” King said.
“[It was] a good call from the skipper and the coach (Darren Sammy) to bring him in for this game. Obviously they read the pitch very well so he was crucial to our win.”
King helped add 43 for the first wicket with Kyle Mayers (17) before the innings slumped, four wickets tumbling for 11 runs in the space of 16 deliveries.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid, with two for 11 from four overs, proved key for the visitors with the key wickets of left-handers Nicholas Pooran (5) and Shimron Hetmyer (2).
“The [England] spinners, from early, you could see they were getting some purchase from the wicket even with the new ball. They tried to bowl good lengths,” King said.
“Adil Rashid obviously is a very experienced bowler and knows how to bowl around the world – he bowled an excellent spell.
“So it was important for us to not give him too many wickets and try to take the majority of runs off the pace bowlers.”
He continued: “Taking the information from the first innings, we knew what was difficult on the pitch – the lengths [to bowl] and taking pace off the ball and those sort of things.
“We tried to apply that when we went out into the field. The guys fielded well as well – we took all of our catches – so we’re very happy with it.”
