We were caught in two minds against Indian spinners: West Indies vice-captain Nicholas Pooran

By PTI

KOLKATA: West Indies batters were caught in two minds while tackling Indian spinners during the opening T20I, said vice-captain Nicholas Pooran, urging the batting unit to make “minor adjustments” to come good in the next two games of the three-match series.

Opener Kyle Mayers gave West Indies a good start as they reached 44 for one in the first six overs but Indian spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and debutant Ravi Bishnoi grabbed three wickets between them to derail the visitors in the middle overs and restrict them to 157 for 7 at Eden Gardens.

“We felt 10-15 runs short to be honest. A total 170-75 would have been a good score on this track. We can’t really fault the bowlers. As batters we needed to play a bit smarter,” Pooran said at the post-match media interaction here.

Urging their batters to buck up, he said: “Again it’s our batting (that needs to improve). We played the spinners fairly okay today. We just want to continue to build partnerships. We just need to negate the spinners a bit better.

“Today we were in two minds whether to attack them or keep them out of the game and we got caught in two minds there. So small fixes and minor adjustments needed to be done. We just need to be a bit more creative in the next game and execute our plans well.”

Pooran said that dew played a key role as batting second under heavy dew made it easier for the Indians, who coasted to a six-wicket win to go 1-0 up in the series.

“It (dew) was a big factor obviously. If you look at the game then you see the bowlers struggling to grip the ball in the last five overs. I think the wicket played better in the second half of the game,” he said.

“The wicket was a bit tricky…I think the ball was stopping a bit. They bowled well. The wicket was two-paced. Even the spinners and seamers when they bowled back of the length, it was hard to judge the pace of the wicket,” Pooran, who returned to form with a 43-ball 61, said.

“Hitting through the line was difficult early on in the innings. There was a lot of dew as you can see a lot of guys wiping the ball so a lot of full tosses were bowled in the end.”