Chase misses ODI ton, but happy with team’s win
LUCKNOW:Scoring one’s career’s maiden ODI hundred is important for any batsman, but missing it by a whisker is painful.
And that is exactly what West Indies’ all-rounder Roston Chase felt when he lost his lost his cool as well as his wicket after notching up a sensible 94.
Still, he was happy that he could guide the side to a sevenwicket win, giving his side a good start to the series.
“The win is best for rebuilding the side, which has lifted two World Cups (1975 and 1979), but I really feel bad about missing my first hundred in this format,” Chase said at the post match interaction.
Chase, 27, who recorded his career-best knock on Wednesday, has scored two half centuries in his 20-match career after making his debut for the side in 2017.
“I wanted to hit a four first and then take two singles to complete my century today, but I missed the pace of the delivery and got out,” he said.
He, however, admitted the ball was moving quite well and the Afghans were right on target. “Conditions were favourable for them and they were even bowling, but we played better cricket and won the game.”
“If your start with win in a series, it gives you extra confidence and we would like to keep the momentum going in the next match on Saturday too.”
Afghan opener Javed Ahmadi, while promising to stage a fine comeback in after Wednesday’s loss, said the team’s lower order didn’t click.
“We fell short by 40-odd runs. If our lower order had batted well, we could have scored 230plus runs and then the situation could have been different for us,” said the opening batsman with a tinge of frustration in his voice.
He, however, praised both Rahmat Shah and Akram Alikhil, who stitched together 111 runs for the third wicket and raised team’s hope of putting up a big score. “Both played well, but Alikhil’s freak run-out changed the fortunes of the team.”
“Have learnt many things from the game and it’s a good experience for the youngsters in the side also. Now, we need to eradicate the shortcomings and come back strongly in the next game, which would be a mustwin encounter for us,” said Ahmadi.