Indore: India captain Shreyas Iyer on Sunday credited the bowlers for powering his side to a 14-run win over the West Indies in the third T20 International here, saying they stayed confident and clear in their thoughts.
India took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series with this win.
“It was wonderful because the bowlers were pretty confident with what they wanted to execute. The clarity was much more visible. They were decisive in their execution and when I was passing the ball to them, each and every bowler was up for the challenge and that’s what you want,” Iyer said during the post-match presentation.
He also praised opener Abhishek Sharma, who top-scored with a 30-ball 69, and Ishan Kishan, who made 37 off just 18 balls.
“Honestly, that was a phenomenal start. Abhishek doing what he does in the powerplay and Kishan coming in. He’s been great in the last few months. Even Prince (Yadav) playing the cameo in the end, those were crucial runs.
“West Indies, you can never take them lightly. So, we had to make sure we never got complacent. These are high-scoring grounds but it’s important to stick to our process and follow our routines and make sure we stay offensive,” Iyer said.
West Indies skipper Shai Hope said they should have been more clinical with the ball after opting to bowl.
“So many things you can put your finger on. But cricket games have small margins. As a winning team, you can pick out defining moments. Probably with the ball, we could have executed better and we let a few boundaries through.
“I believe that the way we came back into the game was quite commendable. From the outset, if you look at that partnership (Abhishek and Kishan), it was a very dangerous one. But we got some wickets with Roston, and we pulled it back,” he said.
Hope said the visitors need to find a dependable opening partnership to set the tone.
“Yeah we have to find a good opening partnership to lay the platform but can’t point your finger on one or two guys,” he said.
On the dew effect here, the West Indies captain said: “It (dew) did play a part. We felt that towards the end of our innings, as the ball was starting to tail a bit more. But credit to the Indian bowlers. They bowled really well and showed us how to execute yorkers. Credit to them.”