West Indies stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran has backed Andre Russell’s decision to face all six deliveries of the final over of Wednesday’s T20 match that was bowled by Mitchell Starc and from which the home side required 11 runs to take a 4-0 lead in the series.

Chasing 189-6 set by Australia, the West Indies lost by four runs as Russell turned down five opportunities to rotate the strike with Hayden Walsh Jr. He managed to hit the final delivery for six but by then victory was beyond the West Indies.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Pooran said Russell made the right decision.

“I thought, and the team thought, that was the best decision for the team. Andre batting six balls, that’s two hits. He is a six-hitter, if he had hit two sixes then everyone would say that’s the best decision. We backed him 100 per cent. We believe he did the right thing,” Pooran said.

Asked if it would not have been better to rotate the strike and reduce the ask as the number of balls dwindled, Pooran said it was not that simple.

“It’s easy to say we could have got four singles (from the first four balls of the over). When Russell takes a single off the first ball that means Hayden Walsh is on strike, so we need him to get a single, so it’s difficult,” he said.

“That’s why in the last over, it’s pressure. A lot of guys don’t know how to cope under pressure. He (Walsh) could have gotten out. Starc is a world-class bowler at the top of his game. He was getting the ball to reverse swing and our best hitter in the game right now is batting, so we back him 100 per cent to hit two boundaries or two sixes to carry us over the line. And we will do it again in the future.”

The West Indies will face Australia in the final match of the series on Saturday night.