Sabina favours Windies in Tri-Nation series
After the West Indies surprised many by winning both their One-Day International (ODI) matches in the Jamaica leg of the Celkon Mobile Cup, the players lauded the impact of the home support at Sabina Park.
The West Indies, ranked seventh in ODI cricket, narrowly escaped with a one-wicket victory against top rated India on Sunday, to go with last Friday’s six-wicket beating of Sri Lanka — a team currently lying fifth in the rankings.
Sri Lanka and India — both winless so far — clash at the same venue today, before the Tri-Nation tournament moves to Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad & Tobago.
During his post-match comments on Sunday, the regional team’s stand-in captain Kieron Pollard, beaming with joyous relief, said it is “absolutely brilliant” to leave Jamaica in pole position for progress to the July 11 final.
He credited the Windies supporters for staying behind the team, despite a collapse which saw them dipping from 142-3 to 220-9 in front of an almost packed Sabina Park venue.
“It’s absolutely brilliant… We go to Trinidad with two wins under our belts.
“All we want to do is play well and play well for the fans. Look at how many people came out and supported us today… Thanks to the crowd,” he told television presenter Arun Lal.
India, the 50-overs world champions, recently swept aside the West Indies by eight wickets en route to capturing the ICC Champions Trophy in England.
Arguing that the dogged resistance from the last pair of Tino Best and Kemar Roach on a slow batting surface is the kind of performance that can further unite the dressing room, Pollard added: “It doesn’t matter how we have done it…we have a couple days now to think about what we have done and not be over-confident in Trinidad because every new game you start at zero.”
Former captain Darren Sammy, who grabbed 2-41 and added a 25-ball 29 to help the West Indies, said the “twelfth man” was essential in the chase to victory.
“It was a very interesting game and I think the twelfth man we have was the Sabina Park crowd, you know helped us to get through,” Sammy said.
