Nicholas Pooran reflects on poor form: The West Indian captain acknowledged his lack of runs in the recent matches.
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Although not the most clinical of victories, West Indies beating Zimbabwe by 31 runs in ICC T20 World Cup 2022 First Round Match 8 in Hobart has it in it to boost their morale after an elongated poor run this year which was further validated by a loss against Scotland on Monday.
While the West Indian batters somehow managed to touch the 150-run mark after captain Nicholas Pooran won the toss and chose to bat at the Bellerive Oval today, it was their bowlers who joined hands to do a commendable job in restricting the opposition to 122 in 18.2 overs.
Playing only his eighth T20I, West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph picked match-winning bowling figures of 4-0-16-4 to play a titular role in a victory. In what was his career-best figures, Joseph was declared the Player of the Match award for the first time in this format.
Other than Joseph, all-rounder Jason Holder also bowled economically picking figures of 3.2-0-12-3 to be well-assisted by pacer Obed McCoy and all-rounders Akeal Hosein and Odean Smith, all of whom picked a wicket apiece.
Nicholas Pooran reflects on poor form in last 10 innings whilst remaining positive
Speaking to the broadcaster during the post-match presentation ceremony, Pooran revealed having a conversation with the team on the eve of the recently concluded match. The skipper’s main brief to his teammates was primarily regarding the batters needing to step up their game.
“We spoke yesterday and had to be responsible as a batting group. Enough is enough. We have been failing in the middle overs. We tried to be a bit conservative in the middle overs,” Pooran said after the match.
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The 27-year old player further explained that his batters were being conservative in order to put together vital partnerships in the middle. Pooran, who praised his bowlers wholeheartedly, admitted a personal dip in form of late whilst remaining positive.
“I’m working really hard day in and day out. It isn’t happening for me. Everything happens for a reason,” Pooran said.
Pooran, who has returned with single-digit scores six times in his last 10 T20I innings, has scored a total of 95 runs at a strike rate of 110.46 in this period. For someone whose forte lies in T20s, Pooran is expected to do significantly better than these numbers especially in a world event.
