West Indies captain Kieron Pollard was disappointed that his team worked harder than they believed in the second ODI in Barbados, even as they came up with a four-wicket win, which was a series decider on Monday. sets up.
Australia slipped to 45 for 6 after batting first - a decision two days before the match's 48-hour suspension due to the Covid-19 scare - with Akeel Hossein knocking out the middle order in the blink of an eye. However, they were able to climb to 187 and when West Indies were at 72 for 5, Australia were probably the favorites to win before Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder chased down.
"Obviously happy to win, but to say that I'm happy with my performance throughout the game, I think we have some work to do," Pollard said in the presentation. "Australia was [45 for 6] and reaching 190, we didn't put our foot on X like we should have done and gave them a chance to get into the game. Then our batsmen didn't take it easy, it seems like We don't like to do things the easy way. Thought there should have been a total of 120."
In their last ODI series against Sri Lanka in March, West Indies chased down three solid runs with a century from the top order on each occasion. The series has been little safe for them, with 27 for six in their opening loss followed by their defeat on Saturday.
Conditions have been a factor at Kensington Oval with a two-paced pitch providing support for pacers and spinners, but Pollard also acknowledged the strength of Australia's attack despite the absence. Mitchell Starc has excelled with eight wickets in both matches, Adam Zampa bowled well in the game and Josh Hazlewood in the first outing before being rested for the latest competition after a two-day delay with the West Indies were excellent.
"The difference in the opposition, Australia is Australia," said Pollard, when asked why the top order didn't fire. "They have world-class bowlers, as much as people are missing, I think there's only one person that's really missing from the attack, Pat Cummins, so I think it's a world-class line-up and testing is a little different. Is .
"We haven't been able to compete the way we want, but having said that, what was good this time was the fight. Nicholas Pooran with that half-century and Jason Holder, we know what we can do with the bat We're down the order, and Pooran is looking like himself. There was a little scratch tonight, but that's what you need in a game like this, scraping someone, and they both go well for us."
Australia had a chance to break the Pooran-holder stand, still requiring 65, when Pooran was dropped at mid-off by Moises Henriques, giving Starc more opportunity to attack the lower order in his remaining overs. Holder was lbw, instead only 23 were needed.
Australia's stand-in captain Alex Carey said, "It doesn't help when you get out for five. Wade and the bowlers did a great job getting us to the total." "We were back in the game, we took some early wickets again and the confidence was definitely there. We created opportunities and we were in the game in that back end, unfortunately, we couldn't turn it off completely and it Proves that we were at least 20 or 30 less."