Bowlers lacked discipline, laments Pollard

West Indies posted a challenging 207 for 5 but Virat Kohli stamped his authority with a career-best 94 not out as India pulled off its highest successful run chase in a T20 International, overhauling the target in 18.4 overs.

“I think we batted pretty well. We scored above 200 runs which more often than not you take that. But discipline in bowling and execution let us down tonight,” Pollard said at the post-match press conference on Friday night.

“We gave 23 extras, 14 or 15 of those wide deliveries, so when you look at that, those were extra balls and extra overs. When you give a class team like India these many extra deliveries, you are destined for trouble. No balls are something we stress on in terms of non-negotiable and we bowled a couple of them tonight. It’s something we need to look on,” he said.

However, instead of dwelling on the negatives, Pollard preferred to look at the positives that came out of the match. “You can find negatives out of every situation but life is about positivity, life is about going forward and looking to improve. I must commend the batters the way they went out and executed,” he said.

“I don’t think dew played much of a part. Obviously, it was a good batting track. That’s what the fans want to see, they want runs, they want sixes and they got that. It’s just a matter of execution. But it’s a long series and it’s a matter of looking at the positives and improve our game. (Shimron) Hetmyer getting back into runs, Brandon King scoring some runs, so it’s exciting times for us. You won’t get everything right overnight but it is a work in progress and I am a pretty contended captain,” the West Indies captain added.

For the first time, the third umpire has been entrusted with the responsibility of calling front foot no balls by the ICC in the ongoing T20 series. “It is what it is, some things you can’t control. I can’t control what they do or what rules they bring into cricket.”