Dejected at missing out on his maiden ODI ton for the “24th time” in 93 matches, West Indies opener Dwayne Smith said the Indian bowlers came back brilliantly to halt the visitors, who were cruising along at one stage in the second ODI here.
Smith made a run-a-ball 97 before being cleaned up by Mohammed Shami (4-36) as the West Indies’ 264-run chase derailed from 170 for two to 215 all out in 46.3 overs. Smith, 31, could not hide his disappointment but praised the Indian bowlers for their good showing.
“I am of course disappointed at missing out on another century. Twenty fourth time I have fallen short of a ton, so it really hurts. They (India) bowled really well. We were cruising at one point and the Indian bowlers just got wickets after that,” said Smith in the post-match press conference at Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday.
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“I think we bowled well but it all came down to some good bowling by the Indians. There is something that we can learn from it and move forward,” he added.
Smith stitched a crucial 72-run second-wicket partnership with Kieron Pollard (40) before Man of the Match Shami, Amit Mishra (2-40) and Ravindra Jadeja (3-44) started the rot.
Meanwhile, lauding Virat Kohli for agreeing to drop a rung in the batting order for the team’s sake, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the strategy used in the second ODI against the West Indies here could be continued as the batsman adjusted well to the change.
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“Kohli is very experienced and he knows what the team wants. We were able to convince him to bat down the order and he understood that it’s good for the team and himself. We have to look at everything,” said Dhoni.
“He is a kind of player who scores at a brisk pace. If someone is doing well at No.3 and Virat is comfortable at No.4 then why not. Let’s go with it. But it was the first time, so we will see,” he added.