Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium: West Indies all-rounder Keemo Paul highlighted that slower balls helped the team keep a lid on the hard-hitting Indian batting attack during their win in the fourth T20I at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here.
Shai Hope’s marvellous century helped the Windies put up a massive total of 247/3 batting first before Paul starred with a five-wicket haul to keep the Men in Blue to 223 in 19.3 overs as the visitors have levelled the five-match series 2-2 before the last match on Saturday.
“From the batters’ perspective, the message we got after the first five overs was that it was a pretty good wicket. One or two balls were gripping, but other than that, it was pretty good,” Paul told the media in the post-match press conference after the 24-run win in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
“As bowlers, the slower balls helped us here. On other wickets and at other grounds, we haven’t been getting much grip, but it worked here,” he added.
The all-rounder highlighted that the team had meetings to discuss plans to counter the Indian batting attack. “Every team has its own game plans. We sit together and discuss them, and we have some pretty long team meetings. I knew what I wanted to do, what my field settings would be and what my plan was. Obviously, I won’t share my plan, but I think I executed it pretty well,” he said.
He highlighted that the bowlers executed their plans pretty well as there was no dew in the fourth game, just as was the case in the third match, which India won by 14 runs in Indore.
“Some pretty big scores have been chased in this series, but I think a key factor is that there was no dew (in Hyderabad). When there is dew, it becomes quite hard for teams bowling second. In the last game and this one, there was no dew, and I think we executed our plans perfectly,” he highlighted.
Paul has become the first West Indies bowler to register multiple five-wicket hauls in T20Is. His 5-41 in Hyderabad against India was the second fifer he took in the format after a 5-15 he picked during a T20I against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2018.
“Some pretty big scores have been chased in this series, but I think a key factor is that there was no dew (in Hyderabad). When there is dew, it becomes quite hard for teams bowling second. In the last game and this one, there was no dew, and I think we executed our plans perfectly,” he highlighted.
Article Source: IANS
