Powell: West Indies responded like champions

WEST Indies captain Rovman Powell commended his players for bouncing back in the fifth and final T20 match against England, which saw the regional team win the series 3-2 on Thursday.

After trailing 2-0, England won matches three and four to level the series before West Indies clinched the series with a four-wicket win in the fifth match.

Speaking to the media on Thursday following the last match at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Powell said, "I think we played very well today. After England came back in the series and put us under pressure I think today the guys responded like champions."

England posted 267/3 batting first in the fourth T20 on Tuesday, led by a century from Phil Salt. The England batting could not repeat that performance in the fifth T20 and were dismissed for 132 in 19.3 overs. In reply, West Indies scored 133/6 in 19.2 overs to seal the series.

Powell knew the fifth match would not have been as high scoring as the fourth match.

"We know the conditions and it would be difficult for the groundsmen to get two belters (high-scoring wickets) back-to-back here in Trinidad, because the games are so close."

He expected the wicket to be slower for the final match which made batting more challenging.

Powell said limiting Salt to 38 in the fifth match was important after the England batsman struck centuries in the third and fourth matches. He said, "It was very important for us to control him. Yesterday we sat in our team room and we tried to have some one-on-one sessions with the guys and we just tried our best to come up with collective plans of how to control him and control (Jos) Buttler."

Looking ahead to the 2024 T20 World Cup being held in West Indies and the US, Powell said there is room for improvement.

"I think we are prepared, but we still have areas we need to sharpen up, especially our bowling because two games back-to-back England beat us badly as a bowling group, excess of 220, back-to-back."

West Indies have been performing at a high level in recent months in T20 cricket. Prior to the T20 series win over England, West Indies defeated India 3-2 and South Africa 2-1.

Pointing to what has led to the positive results, Powell said, "I think the guys we have around have played a lot of T20 cricket around the world...The others who come in that are new to international cricket still come in with that CPL (Caribbean Premier League) and that franchise cricket experience, so that is doing well for us."