A standout knock from under-fire Nicholas Pooran and a controlled last-over from Andre Russell ensured the victory for defending champions West Indies over Bangladesh in a closely contested game on Friday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
A three-run win has now kept West Indies’ hopes alive and in the hunt. The team, however, was without their star skipper Kieron Pollard in the second innings. Kieron Pollard retired hurt during the 13th over of the West Indies innings and walked-off after talking a single on the third ball. The mighty Trinidadian did return after the dismissal of Dwayne Bravo and slammed the ball for a six to help his team post 142 on the board.
Team’s stand-in-captain Nicholas Pooran, in the post-match interview, gave an update on Pollard’s fitness and informed the media that the medical team is assessing the star all-rounder. One of the heroes of the Friday game, Pooran was optimistic about Pollard’s fitness and lauded his skipper’s effort on coming onto bat despite his injury.
“He looks fine, the medical team is assessing him. Even with that injury, walking back to bat and hitting that vital six. We can see why he has been a wonderful leader. We as young players look up to that. We would like to someone like that in the future,” said Pooran.
The two-time champions will now be seen in action on November 4 when they face-off against Sri Lanka. It remains to be seen whether their skipper will be fit to take the field on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the left-hander who contributed to his team’s win through his 20-ball 40 blitzkrieg, talked about his batting order and how he chose to rise up to the occasion after Pollard left the field.
“Definitely a tactical move batting down (on being demoted down the order). Our batting hasn’t clicked so far and we have been chopping and changing. I felt like I had to raise my hand up and perform for the team after Polly left. I have been working very hard. I have been a doing a lot of right things. I hadn’t been doing justice to myself,” concluded Pooran.
