Holder: Silly mistakes cost Windies

WEST INDIES cricket captain Jason Holder admitted that “silly mistakes” proved costly as the regional team were beaten by four wickets against Sri Lanka, in the third and final Test – the historic day/night affair at the Kensington Oval, Barbados yesterday.

The series ended in a 1-1 draw, after the West Indies won the First Test by 226 runs at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, followed by a drawn Second Test at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium in St Lucia.

The regional batsmen had a poor showing in what was a low scoring Test in Barbados, bowled out for 93 in the second innings to open the door for a Sri Lanka victory.

“We can’t expect to make silly mistakes and expect to win the series,” said the WI skipper.

The Bajan allrounder chose to focus, however, on the positives and believes there were several impressive showings from the home side in the series.

“I’m really proud of the individual performances, hopefully we can bring it together against Bangladesh,” he said.

Bangladesh will play two Tests (in Antigua and Jamaica), three One Day Internationals and three T20 Internationals during their tour of the Caribbean, which runs from July 4 to August 5.

Referring to the third Test, which ended on the first session of the scheduled fourth day, Holder said, “It’s tough to come here and lose a close one. We didn’t play well enough. We missed a few close ones in the second innings. We messed up with the bat in the second innings as well.”

Holder pointed out, “It was a very tough, hard-fought series. Credit to the Sri Lankans for the way they fought back, and hopefully we can put things right for the next series against Bangladesh starting next week.”

Two WI players who had commendable performances during the Test series were fast bowler Shannon Gabriel and wicketkeeper/batsman Shane Dowrich.

Gabriel had 20 wickets at an average of 14.95 and Dowrich, who was named as the Man of the Series, scored 288 runs at 57.60, including one century and two half-centuries. Dowrich also claimed 13 catches behind the stumps.

“I must commend Shannon Gabriel for his efforts throughout the entire series (and) Shane Dowrich, the Man of the Series,” said Holder. “All the guys really put up a good effort. It didn’t (end) the way that we wanted but credit to the guys.”

Holder had a commendable display against Sri Lanka, scoring 198 runs at 39.60 and claiming 12 wickets at 16.08.

“I’m one to be always confident, always looking at the positive side of things,” he said. “I was feeling good all series, with both bat and ball. I was happy they both clicked this game. We came up on the losing end but nevertheless I feel good with my performance.”

This was West Indies’ third ever day/night Test match but the first to be staged in the Caribbean.

However, all three have ended in losses for the WI team. They lost by 56 runs against Pakistan in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in October 2016 and by an innings and 209 runs against England in Birmingham in August 2017.

“It was a good experience,” was Holder’s take on using the pink ball, in a Test match, at Kensington. “Hopefully the next one, whenever it will be, we can put up a better effort.”