Bravo: We had a chance with Shiv
Man of the match and West Indies all rounder Dwayne Bravo said that though the team is pleased to be in the winner's row after their nail biting last ball victory in the First Digicel One Day International there is still much work to be done in order to improve."We're happy with the win but there is a lot to improve on. We have to go back to the drawing board, have a good practice session and look to seal the series on Saturday," Bravo said shortly after the one wicket win which was achieved from the final delivery of the match when Shivnarine Chanderpaul (62*) hit a six to score the required runs to take the West Indies to 236 for 9, overhauling Sri Lanka's 235 for 7.
"We're happy with the win but we would have been happier if we could have sealed the victory if we could have won the game with more wickets in hand," Bravo told reporters after his award winning performance when he sealed career best bowling figures with 4 for 32 and also made a vital 36 before being run out.The 24 year old Bravo said that the team had faith in the 33 year old Chanderpaul's experience even thought ten runs were required from the final two delivery.
"We knew that Shiv was there and once he got most of the strike we were in with a chance. We knew it would have been difficult with two balls to get ten runs and with a bowler as experienced as Chaminda Vaas you would back the bowling team but Shiv has done it already on different occasions and it goes to show his experience," Bravo said while asserting that the team is a better unit due to their stronger belief in God.
"One thing in the West Indies team there is a lot of faith. What the assistant coach (David Williams) and coach (John Dyson) bring into this team is that the team get closer to God, we pray three times a day and I think that is something which is taking us through at this time and we are seeing signs of improvement, (we have to) get rid of the simple mistakes, believe in ourselves and He (God) will do the rest for us," Bravo revealed to reporters.
When questioned about the West Indies' seeming inability to finish off teams after dismissing the top order batsmen Bravo said the Sri Lankans, especially Chamara Kapugedera and Chamara Silva, deserve credit for the way they played.
"The wicket was conducive to seam bowling and all the seamers put the ball in the right areas and were able to get the top order batsmen out pretty cheap and that set up the game for us (but) you have to give credit to the Sri Lankan batsmen, they are not a team that's going to just lie down and let us bowl them out," Bravo reasoned while noting that the Sri Lankans are a top ranked One Day International side.
He said that the West Indies players are cognizant of where they went wrong in the bowling department and will make the necessary improvement for the Second Digicel ODI on Saturday April 12th also at the Queen's Park Oval.
"We know where we went wrong and we have to go back to the drawing board so if the situation occurs again we know how to go about it and try to better our performance in the outfield," said Bravo while also saying that the West Indies team thought that the visitors scored about 40 runs too many after being 49 for 5.
"It was a nail-biting win but a win is a win and come Saturday we know we will be one nil up and once we win Saturday again the series is over," concluded Bravo.
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