By Stephan Sookram

THE West Indies were marred by a constant deplorable selection of shots coupled with the constant and consistent fall of wickets.That was how captain Jason holder summed up his side’s six-wicket loss to the Aussies at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence on Sunday.
“The most important thing for us is to get some partnerships going up front and let the momentum flow through the mid-innings.
“We never really got any partnerships going. Just not enough runs on the board, to be honest,” said Holder during the post-match press conference.
“If you went through the dismissals, there were quite a few soft dismissals. The Australians challenged us in terms of building pressure, but I don’t think they got us out with any spectacular balls, per se. We just played some horrible shots out there at a crucial stage of the game which cost us our wickets.”
And he was right in his analysis; notable mentions of Kieron Pollard who opted to slog his first Nathan Lyons delivery down to David Warner at long-on and Darren Bravo who selected Adam Zampa at extra cover to drive a full and wide Mitchel Marsh delivery.
Holder was more comforting to his bowlers.
“The bowlers didn’t really have anything to bowl at, although we tried really, really hard and did get four of the Australians’ wickets. I thought Sunil Narine came in and did an excellent job for us in the end and we got some wickets upfront,” he said.
“I think we’ve bowled reasonably well for the first two games; the bowlers have really put up their hands. It’s just important for the batsmen to build partnerships, especially up front, and just give ourselves some cushion in the middle and be able to blast at the end with the power we have in the dressing room.”
Meanwhile, a smiling Nathan Lyon had a warmer reception for his teammates.
“Our communication is one of our biggest weapons. As I said, we’re all really good mates; we all want to see each other do well. So if we can have that open communication with each other and try and help each other to better the team and get the right result for Australia, then we’re heading the right way.”
Speaking more to a personal performance, the off-spinner added, “Always good to be on a hat-trick, but at the end of the day I was more worried about trying to stop the runs and if a wicket came around, then good. It’s just about trying to create some chances.”