Losing wickets in power play a problem, says Powell

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC):

West Indies T20 captain Rovman Powell has once again called on his batters to be more responsible during the power play, following their loss to Bangladesh in the opening T20I here on Sunday.

Chasing a modest total of 148 for victory, West Indies lost the wickets of Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran and Johnson Charles inside the first six overs and eventually lost to the visitors by seven runs.

Speaking to reporters after the match at Arnos Vale, Powell said losing wickets in clusters during the power play was beginning to plague the team.

“It’s disappointing to be honest. I think the bowlers put in a credible bowling performance on a wicket like that and we always knew as a batting group we try not to lose wickets in clusters, and we did that today.

“It’s been a problem now for us and it’s something we really have to look at as a batting group.

“The statistics say that if you lose three or more wickets in the power play, often times you end up on the losing side and we have proven that time and time again,” Powell lamented.

“I think tomorrow we have to sit down as a group and have some honest conversations.

“It’s been a lot of T20 cricket for the year, so I know the boys are fatigued, but what are we seeing happening is something that keeps on repeating itself and when it keeps repeating itself, we have to try our best to stop it,” he contended.

Powell was the only West Indian batsman to put up resistance, scoring 60 from 35 balls.

It followed a solid performance in the recently concluded T20 series against England, and he said much of the credit had to be given to his batting coach, former West Indies player Robert Samuels.

“I think a lot of credit has to be given to my batting coach back home, Robert Samuels. He’s always instilled in me that I’m a batter with power and not just a swiper,” Powell said.

“I’ve done a lot of work behind the scenes so it’s good to see that I’m getting a little bit of consistency now.”