West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard blames his side’s erratic bowling for their five-wicket loss to New Zealand in Auckland on Friday.
After the West Indies made 180 for 7 from their reduced allotment of 16 overs due to rain, New Zealand replied with 179 for 5 off 15.2 overs to win by Duckworth/Lewis method.
Keemo Paul bowled five no-balls while conceding 39 runs from three overs while Kesrick Williams served up a steady diet of half-volleys going for 33 runs in two overs. Meanwhile Fabian Allen yielded 32 runs from two overs as New Zealand raced to a comfortable victory.
Notwithstanding the West Indies batsmen losing five wickets for one run after scoring 58 from the first 19 balls of their innings, Pollard’s comments suggested that had the bowlers done a better job, the outcome might have been different.
“It was an entertaining game of cricket for the fans and the general public, something that they haven’t got for a very long time. In terms of disciplines, in the bowling aspect of things, I thought we were a bit erratic, a bit indisciplined and in international cricket if you bowl so many no balls and if you are so inconsistent in your execution, you’re definitely going to end up on the losing side,” Pollard said.
Despite losing three wickets in the first six overs, New Zealand were going at close to 10 runs an over before Ross Taylor got run out without scoring to leave the home side at 63 for 4. Pollard said the West Indies failed to capitalize.
“Having them go at the start at 10s and 11s, you want to get a couple of wickets and put them on the backfoot, exactly what we did. I just thought we were not disciplined enough to stay in the game a bit longer and carry down to the end because sometimes you’re going at 12s, 13s, comfortably but when it’s crunch time, sometimes the pressure wants to get the better of you, coming down to the end I thought a couple less boundaries and we would be right in the game.”
Pollard said he will not be put off for the loss and vowed to bounce back for game two on Saturday.
“I am here for the fight. I am not going to back down.”