“I thought that the Indian guys really executed it well today in the middle, kind of stifled us and left us with eventually too much runs at the end,” Springer said at the press conference after West Indies finished on 209 for 7 chasing India’s 223. “We thought the wicket would play a little better. The ball kept a bit lower than we expected.
“Also we thought there may be some dew in the second half, but there wasn’t really any dew. And as I said, the nature of the wicket was a little low [and] the Indian bowlers used the wicket a lot better than us.”
“He’s a world-class player. Kudos to him, for sure. But I guess our Plan B was to just be as defensive as possible and try to make him get singles and twos rather than boundaries. Nothing too extravagant,” Springer said. “It was just a matter of trying to pull him back and be as defensive as possible. That was really it. Because there’s not much control you could really have here.
“I mean, the wickets are so good and those players are world-class players. They’re the best for a reason. So, there’s not really much you could really do besides be defensive.”
The contest between Abhishek and Chase at the top was a good one. Chase had gotten Abhishek out in the first and second T20Is with his offspin, and here, Abhishek was more cautious at the start. Till he decided to take Chase on and send him out of the attack for a while.
“He’s been underrated so far, but in our dressing room, we really appreciate what he really does,” Springer said of Chase, not a typical T20I player but someone who has become a part of the team in recent years for the stability he provides to the batting and the overs he can send down.
“He brings that control and calmness to our team. He’s the X-factor so far.”
