"If you have been following West Indies T20 cricket, the guys have been improving" - Rovman Powell
West Indies' middle-order batter Rovman Powell stated that they have improved in certain areas since the last series but insists there is room to improve more.
The middle-order batter, who almost took his side to victory in the second T20I against India in Kolkata, felt West Indies had leaked an extra 15 runs.
Powell, who scored his maiden T20I hundred in the home T20 series against England, played another masterclass on Friday.
The right-handed batter hammered 68 runs in 36 deliveries, including four boundaries and five maximums. He also added 100 off 60 balls with Nicholas Pooran; however, the tourists fell short by eight runs.
Not sure anyone hits the ball harder than Rovman Powell does. Not sure that comes through on TV but I can assure it takes no time at all to reach the boundary.
Powell admitted that West Indies have been improving in T20 cricket. However, he lamented the lack of consistent partnerships. The 28-year old thought they had to field well, especially leading up to the World Cup Down Under in October.
"If you have been following West Indies T20 cricket, the guys have been improving. From the last series, to this series, there are a lot of areas we can identify that the guys have improved. We've got partnerships going and if we keep doing that, we are going to win more than we lose. We didn't field particularly well today."
Powell added:
"We could have saved another 15 and that was our downfall. We are building slowly to the World Cup and it's important to keep improving series by series," the explosive batter said, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Although the West Indies' middle-order flourished, their opening batters struggled. Brandon King and Kyle Mayers failed to score briskly, taking 40 balls collectively. In the end, Pooran and Powell had a lot to do.
"Our game plan was simple to carry it deep" - Rovman Powell
The Jamaican underlined that his plan with Pooran was to take the game deep, needing a mammoth partnership. However, he wanted the innings to result in a victory and the series leveled, walking into the third T20I.
"It was pretty simple - we had to get through together till the end. We needed a partnership at that time in excess of a hundred. Our game plan was simple to carry it deep. We had to back ourselves and try and take down any bowler that was in front of us. I did the hard yards early on and tried to get myself in. It won't go down as a special innings as we didn't win. It was important for us to go 1-1 into the final game."
It was a nail-biting finish thanks to Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell's sublime batting but India held their nerve in an action-packed T20I at Eden Gardens 👇
#INDvWI
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West Indies are still searching for their first win on the tour as India blanked them in the ODI series before sealing the T20 leg. The third T20I will be played on the February 20.