Akeal batted well at end, Shepherd has taken responsibility: Pollard
Jan 24, 2022
Bridgetown [Barbados], January 24 : After suffering a narrow one-run loss in the second T20I against England, West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard heaped praise on lower-order batters Romario Shephard and Akeal Hosein for showing great responsibility with the bat.
Akeal Hosain smashed 28 runs off the final over but it was not enough as West Indies suffered a heartbreaking one-run loss against England in the second T20I of the five-match series.
"If you lose early wickets, you tend to struggle. But the way the guys fought at the end, tremendous. Akeal batted really well at the end, spare a word for Shepherd. He's really taken some responsibility. It has (being unable to negate spinners) but we will find a way. We will have games like this but the guys will get through," Pollard said after the game.
"Yeah, those (dropped catches) really count, we lost by one run today, so yeah, those do cost. But having said that, we finished well. It was a good game of cricket and hopefully, the fans enjoyed it," he added.
With this win, the five-match series is levelled at 1-1. The third T20I will be played on Tuesday.
Chasing 172, West Indies kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and it was just Romario Shephard and Akeal Hosein who showed some spark with the bat. Hosein smashed 44 runs off just 16 balls with the help of three fours and four sixes.
However, in the end, it did not prove enough as England registered a one-run win. For the visitors, Moeen Ali returned with three wickets while Adil Rashid scalped two.
