India Vs West Indies: We Just Didn’t Capitalise On A Good Pitch: Jason Holder

Middle-order collapse had been West Indies’ nemesis in the first four games of the recently-concluded ODI series against India and the old foe once again came to haunt them in the fifth and final ODI on Thursday (July 6). After losing Evin Lewis cheaply, Shai Hope (51) and Kyle Hope (46) were looking set to lay a strong foundation for a good total but the innings totally derailed after Umesh Yadav dismissed the latter. On the very next ball, the India pacer sent back Roston Chase to reduce the hosts to 76 for 3 from 76 for 1.

A 39-run stand between Shai Hope and Jason Mohammed followed by a 48-run partnership between the former and Jason Holder steadied the ship but the floodgates opened once the West Indies skipper was dismissed by Mohammed Shami. From 163 for 4, West Indies found themselves reeling at 171 for 7 before a 31-run knock from Rovman Powell helped them to cross the 200-run mark for the first time in this series. Their eventually managed to put up 205 which India led by Virat Kohli‘s unbeaten 111 chased down with utmost ease in the 37th over.

Speaking after the game, Holder rued the batting collapse but hoped that his inexperienced teammates would learn from their mistakes.

“We got a very good start. Unfortunately, Kyle Hope got out when we were building some momentum. I just hope that the guys learn quickly. I can only control what I can control. It’s a relatively inexperienced side and I hope we get some results our way going forward. The pitch was good throughout the entire game. We just didn’t capitalise,” Holder said at the post-match conference.

“We lost wickets at crucial stages and never recovered from there. Our bowling has been good in few of the games, and that will be the positives I’ll be taking from this series. Still, a lot of work to be done in terms of consistency,” he added.

Holder sympathised with his batsmen but reiterated that they need to learn quickly from their mistakes. He also had a word of praise for his bowlers who conceded a 300-plus total just once against the formidable Indian batting line-up.

“I sympathise with the batsmen, but they need to learn quickly and use the off-season well. We knew the surface in Jamaica is pretty good for batting, and we didn’t really capitalise. Three or four batsmen, we got in and got out. Our bowlers have been outstanding, we conceded one score of 300, but apart from that we did very well,” he concluded.