There weren’t too many backing Carlos Brathwaite to take his side to within a couple of hits of the finish line against New Zealand, but captain Jason Holder believes that performance wasn’t something one could not expect at Old Trafford.
Batting with the tail, Brathwaite had his task cut out and he responded with a brutal assault on the New Zealand bowlers, but with one hit required he was caught by Trent Boult of the bowling of Jimmy Neesham for 101 at long-on.
“His work ethic is really good. He’s not one to shy away from his responsibilities. And he puts in a really good effort into his preparation,” Holder said
“That’s one thing that I credit him for. The knock that he played is not surprising to me.
“We let ourselves down in the middle, no doubt. We were always up with the run rate. It wasn’t a case where we needed to keep going, per se. We just needed to keep our wickets intact. Set it up in there, a really good foundation. And we weren’t able to do that in the middle overs.
“But we fought back well. And Carlos and the other guys at the lower half really gave us a chance. But as I said, you can look back and pinpoint one or two areas when you lose a great game. Having said that, I still think we played a really good game.”
This narrow defeat means the West Indies’ chances of making the top four are no more just in their hands, but despite that, the skipper feels there are enough positives to take from this match.
“We fought right to the very end. We came right back into the game when pretty much everyone thought the game was over.
“And credit to the lower half. The guys really put it in their hands today and took responsibility. Top-notch by Carlos. He was outstanding. He gave us a chance, gave us hope. Just unfortunate at the very end that we weren’t able to get a win.
