Holder annoyed with Windies shot selection

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Cricket365
July 1, 2016

The West Indies batting lineup crumbled from 50/1, to 116 all out in the second match of the triangular series in the Caribbean, and West Indies' captain Jason Holder feels poor shot selection was to blame for the spectacular capitulation.

After Australia won the toss and sent the West Indies in to bat, Mitchell Starc removed Andre Fletcher cheaply before Darren Bravo and Johnson Charles put on 44 for the second wicket. When Adam Zampa caught Bravo off the bowling of Mitchell Marsh with the score on 50 it prompted a tame collapse from an impatient West Indies.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Holder said: "If you went through the dismissals, there were quite a few soft dismissals,"

"The Australians challenged us in terms of building pressure, but I don't think they got us out with any spectacular balls, per se. We just played some horrible shots out there at a crucial stage of the game which cost us our wickets."

The skipper praised Sunil Narine for a great effort in the attempted defense of the meager total of 116: "We never really got any partnerships going. Just not enough runs on the board, to be honest. The bowlers didn't really have anything to bowl at, although we tried really, really hard and did get four of the Australians' wickets. I thought Sunil Narine came in and did an excellent job for us in the end and we got some wickets upfront."

Holder believes that a score of around 220 would have been a winning total after seeing his bowlers knock South Africa over for 188 in the first game played in Guyana:"I think anywhere between 210 and 220, we backed ourselves to defend,"

"Previous games we played here, there were not many that were high-scoring. Obviously, the first game we played, one team only got 180-odd and we managed to win the game in the second-last over."

The big fast bowler feels his bowlers have stepped up in the series so far, and will be looking for a greater contribution from his batsmen: "I think we've bowled reasonably well for the first two games; the bowlers have really put up their hands,"

"It's just important for the batsmen to build partnerships, especially up front, and just give ourselves some cushion in the middle and be able to blast at the end with the power we have in the dressing room. But the most important thing for us is to get some partnerships going up front and let the momentum flow through the mid-innings."

The West Indies will have an eight day break before they return to action against Australia in Basseterre on June 13.