AFG vs WI | Winning is habit and we need to enjoy ourselves, says Kieron Pollard
West Indies' white-ball captain Kieron Pollard believes that winning is like a habit and that his team players need to express themselves every game that they play to continue winning. West Indies completed a series win against Afghanistan by beating them in the second ODI at Lucknow by 47 runs.
Kieron Pollard got his first series win as a West Indies skipper as his team beat Afghanistan by 47 runs at Lucknow, thanks to a man of the match performance by Nicholas Pooran who smashed 67 off just 50 balls countering the Afghanistan spinners to help Windies reach a competitive total which they ended up defending comprehensively. Pollard lauded the Windies openers who laid a foundation and mentioned the role Hetmyer and Pooran played especially Pooran at the end with his hard-hitting to help West Indies reach a fighting total.
"It feels good, been long since we have won a series. It was a good wicket, it was a bit drier. It was just a matter of giving that opportunity to go hard in the end," Pollard said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
"Pooran batted well and showed consistency. The openers laid the foundation for us and Hetmyer played according to the situation as well."
Pollard believes that the Windies must play their natural games and express themselves to keep this winning habit going and usher in a new era in West Indies Cricket.
"I want to go back inside and celebrate with the guys. Winning is a habit and we need to enjoy ourselves similarly day after," Pollard asserted.
The losing captain Rashid Khan also praised Pooran's batting performance and believes that they were unable to string partnership as they lost wickets frequently.
"I think we started off really well, we bowled well in the first few overs. Credit goes to Pooran for the way he played. 247 was still chaseable with such a deep batting line up. We recovered well, but couldn't finish off. The only plan was to bowl dot balls and they'll make mistakes. We knew we could get few opportunities. The senior players did well, but we lost wickets in clusters," Rashid asserted.
Rashid hopes that Afghanistan will learn from this loss and hope to bounce back and play for pride in the third and final ODI.
"In the next match, we'll try to play much better than this and be positive. I think we need to focus on that. We need to believe in ourselves, that's where we're lacking a touch," he concluded.