Jason Holder marked his return to the West Indies team with a brilliant bowling performance which helped West Indies to victory over Sri Lanka in the opening T20 International at Sabina Park, on Thursday night.
The giant seam bowler took three wickets for 18 runs from four overs – which included two wickets off two balls in his first overs.
He was named Man of the Match as Windies limited Sri Lanka to 147-9 off their 20 overs, with fast bowler Shamar Joseph taking 3-29 off four overs.
The home side then made 149-3 off 19.2 overs to win by seven wickets with four balls to spare.
Captain Shai Hope top scored with 65 not out off 54 balls with five fours and two sixes. He shared an opening stand of 67 with Brandon King. The man ended in grand style when Rovman Powell launched a gigantic six which sailed out of the ground.
Holder, said after the night’s game that he was pleased with his performance after arriving from the recent Indian Premier League as it gave the team a lift following the 1-0 defeat in the recent One-Day International series.
“For me, it’s just trying to be consistent. I knew what length I had to bowl. I thought the pitch was a bit two-paced. I think it depends on the situation and after getting two wickets in two balls, it really set it up … more or less, I try to understand the situation and keep the stumps in play,” he said. “I just try to plan better and understand the conditions and try to be a step ahead of the opposition. I did look at a little bit of numbers as well to understand where I’ve been going wrong and just try to correct the mistakes.”
The two teams will meet in the second T20I on Saturday at 7:30pm local time (8:30pm Barbados Time). (PS)
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