West Indies captain, Kieron Pollard, did not put too much blame on the shoulders of all-rounder Jason Holder after an expensive 18th over led to the ballooning of England’s first innings total.
On Saturday, England leveled the series on the back of a stroke-filled 64 from the team’s captain Moeen Ali, which bankrolled the team’s first innings score of 193 for 6.
Things had looked far more controlled at the start of the 18th over, with England on 134 for 3. Holder, who had put together a tidy spell to that point, was the target of a savage attack from Ali who launched four consecutive sixes and eventually milk 28 off it. The following over for Romario Shepherd also proved costly as it ended up adding another 18 to England’s tally. Pollard admitted the expensive final overs were likely where the game turned.
“That’s the nature of T20 cricket all it takes is six balls or a couple hits to get you away from where you want to be,” Pollard said following the match.
“We were looking at around at around 160, 170, a total that would have been chasable but them getting to 190 put that extra 20 runs out of our reach,” he added.
“I thought right until then, and even when we started to bat, we had a very good chance. We slowed up in the middle not losing wickets but we were a little slow.”