Pollard and Tiwari took this glorious opportunity to record maiden tons. Tiwari was the Man of the Match, while Pollard with his ten sixes held the audience spellbound.
Needing 268, Wi started disastrously, losing four for just 36 runs, their top order blown by the Indian pacers, Mithun and Pathan. Jadeja then scalped Ramadin, till Pollard and Russell launched a counter offensive, with a 89 run blast off just 79 balls !
Both Irfan ( who dismissed Simmons with the first ball ) and Mithun impressed. And so did the Indian spinners.
Pollard said he hopes to be more consistent !
"I hope that I am more consistent. Thank God, I got my maiden hundred. Wanted the team to win. Didn't happen today.
"Just have to go back and reflect on what went wrong. First couple of games were really close. Hopefully, we'll take a couple of months off international cricket and reflect and come back strong for Australia".
"Significant hundred. I was looking for a different approach after I have had a couple of starts in the earlier matches. Thank God, one of the best fielders (Kohli) in India dropped me on 99 tonight."
"I was looking for singles, and when the ball is in your arc, go for it. Hopefully, I will learn from this innings and do well for West Indies in future also."
Pollard ignored the criticism that he is only a T20 player.
"Everybody has an opinion. As far as I am concerned, I feel that when I go back to my room I should know that I have given my hundred per cent. I can be harsh with myself, if I've played a bad shot. But at the end of the day, what people have to say are just opinions."
The problem with the WI side is psychological.
"It's just a mental aspect or killer instinct. Past West Indian sides had it, then the Aussies had it and now India is doing really well. Hopefully, we'll be better equipped mentally to handle close matches in the future."
Tiwari dedicates century to Kolkotta victims
"I want to dedicate my Man-of-the-Match award to all the people who died in the Calcutta hospital tragedy. It was an unfortunate incident and it should not have happened,"
"I enjoyed it. It wasn't coming onto the bat. Generally I play spin pretty well, so I made sure I took advantage of the loose balls" he said.
He retired hurt at 104.
"I didn't hydrate enough before the match, that is my mistake. I had cramps because of that. I have to hydrate before playing in future" he said.
Meanwhile, Gambhir, the acting skipper, paid tributes to his bowlers who did not allow Pollard to run away with the game.
"We know what Pollard can do on his day, but credit to the bowlers who stuck to their game. It was a matter of just one ball. Every ball he (Pollard) middled was going out of the ground, but you have to stick to your line and length" he said.
"Our bowlers did just that. We missed Ravichandran Ashwin in the spin department. But Rahul Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja bowled well" he added.
"We thought 240 would be a good total. But we ended up scoring 266, thanks to Manoj. Good to see him get the hundred, hopefully he will go on and get many more.
Incidentally, Sehwag was happy with his young team.
"I am satisfied with the young team. Especially with the young fielding and bowling unit. West Indies have some big hitters but our bowlers did well throughout the series. Credit to the players for winning the series 4-1" he said.
"They were all eager to play. I asked everybody can you take a break, they said no, so I had to take the break. I am happy that all of them played in the series and they did well" he said.
"It's a good end to the season. We beat England 5-0, New Zealand 5-0 and now West Indies 4-1".
On the contrary, Sammy congratulated Pollard, who almost pulled it off.
"Congratulations to Pollard on his first one-day hundred. It was really good to watch. We have been paying some good cricket, we have been fighting throughout, but unfortunately we are not finishing things off" he said.
"Everybody expected us to roll over, we did not. We showed our never-say-die attitude. I'd like to congratulate the boys on the effort, the way they supported me in the tough series. We can only move forward from here. Congratulations to Sehwag and his team, but we can hold our heads high" he said.
Rohit Sharma, the Man of the Series, said he had forgotten the past and will make a new beginning.
Comments