New Delhi [India], October 28 : Rovman Powell celebrated his 100th T20 International in fitting fashion, staying true to his trademark late surge batting style to guide the West Indies to a 16-run victory over Bangladesh in the opening T20I in Chattogram, as per ESPNcricinfo.
On Monday, Powell became only the third West Indian cricketer to reach the 100-match milestone, marking the occasion with an unbeaten 44 that earned him the Player of the Match award.
Powell had a slow start to his innings, struggling to find his timing early on. He managed just 18 runs off his first 22 deliveries, hitting only one boundary. His innings came alive in the 19th over when he smashed his first six off Mustafizur Rahman.
The West Indies skipper then turned up the heat in the final over, hammering Tanzim Hasan Sakib for three consecutive sixes, finishing unbeaten on 44 off 28 balls, with 26 runs coming in his last six deliveries. His late flourish powered the visitors to 165/3 in 20 overs, before their bowlers bowled out Bangladesh for 149.
"I am very happy," Powell said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"It is not always that someone gets to play 100 T20Is, especially for West Indies. It shows the hard work that I have done in the duration of my career. A lot of credit goes to my family and friends, and the players with whom I have played these 100 matches. It is very special to get Man-of-the-Match award in my 100th game," he added.
"I think it's a batting template that I have used in the last year or two. I have had good success with it. I try to get a start and get into the last five overs when I try to hit as many sixes as possible," he noted.
Powell later admitted that heavy dew made things challenging for the West Indies bowlers.
He expressed that the team would have been under pressure if Bangladesh had kept wickets in hand towards the end.
"If one of the main Bangladeshi batters had stayed at the wicket for longer, we would have been under pressure," Powell said.
"It was very wet in the end. Having said that, a lot of the credit goes to our bowlers. They stuck to their plans and picked up wickets at critical times," he noted.
"We had information about the ground but we didn't know it would get this wet. Maybe that's something that we keep in consideration," he added.
However, Bangladesh's chase faltered early, losing four wickets inside the powerplay and all their frontline batters by the 12th over. Interestingly, it was fast bowler Tanzim Hasan Sakib who top-scored with 33 runs, later acknowledging that Bangladesh needed a better start and more specialist batters at the crease towards the finish.
"Of course, when there was dew, the ball came on to the bat more easily," Tanzim said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
"If we had one set batsman at that stage, the game would've been much easier. In the last couple of overs, a settled batsman always keeps you in the game. We lost four wickets in the powerplay. Even if it had been two, the chase could still have been managed," he noted.
Powell, on the other hand, looked ahead to wrapping up the series in the next game. He said the team is determined to end its poor recent run in the format, the West Indies have lost their last seven T20I bilateral series and will aim to seal the series win in the second T20I.
"Whatever the stats say, it doesn't leave a good taste in our mouth. Myself and the guys are eager to turn that around. Being 1-0 up against Bangladesh will provide the opportunity for us to turn it around. Bangladesh are a tough side at home. We will see if we can continue improving to win the series in the next game," he said.
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