Many gave up on us, but individuals in dressing room rallied around: Pollard after win against England
Jan 31, 2022
Bridgetown [Barbados], January 31 : West Indies' white-ball skipper Kieron Pollard has said that every individual in the dressing room has rallied around and the win against England is a special one.
Pollard's comments came after the fifth T20I which his side managed to win to take the five-match series 3-2.
"It's wonderful, many have given up on this team, but every single individual has rallied around, there have been a lot of negative things written about us, but this win is for everyone out in the dressing room. They have worked tirelessly coming from Jamaica (after the Ireland series), and have bounced back pretty well. We now have an understanding as to how to get the game going, we have come close to winning several times before, but came short at times," Pollard said after the game.
"We have learnt from all these things. This was a virtual final, so runs on the board are crucial, whatever we get, we can add 10-15 runs tagged to the pressure. We started well, did stall in the middle, but I thought we did well in the last four overs. The guys came out, everything we tried came off pretty well, Akeal at the start and spinners in the middle. I thought Brandon (King) had a great series, you can't keep Holder out of the game, Akeal was good and so was Odean, despite what has been written about him. His three overs at the top was crucial - as I said before, was a complete team effort," he added.
Holder's fifer and Akeal Hosein's four-wicket haul helped West Indies defeat England by 17 runs in the fifth and final T20I here at the Kensington Oval on Monday. With this win, West Indies won the five-match series 3-2.
Chasing 180, only James Vince got going for England with the bat as he played a 55-run knock from 35 balls. Sam Billings also chipped in with a 41-run inning, but it did not prove enough as West Indies kept on taking wickets at regular intervals.
Holder and Hosein were the standout performers and the duo ensured that the hosts end up winning the series.
Earlier, Kieron Pollard and Rovman Powell played unbeaten knocks of 41 and 35 to help West Indies post 179/4 in the allotted twenty overs. For England, Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone returned with two wickets each.
