Brathwaite pleased with bowling improvement

Pacer Carlos Brathwaite said rediscovered rhythm had been behind his career-best five-wicket haul in the Group A contest of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers against Papua New Guinea (PNG) here on Thursday.

The 29-year-old said the had made no major adjustments ahead of the match but had focused a bit on his rhythm in recent times with the coaching staff.

“I wouldn’t say it is a big change. I guess I’ve just been struggling for rhythm a bit but today I found it,” he told media after the Windies completed their six-wicket victory.

“I’ve been doing some really good work with Roddy Estwick (former Windies bowling coach) before and now Alfonso Thomas the (current) bowling coach, so I guess today is one of those days where everything comes together.

“You get the rewards but it doesn’t necessarily mean I did anything different in the lead-up to this game as opposed to the last one I would have played. But it’s always good to see your hard work come to fruition and for the stats to show it as well.”

The right-armer finished with five for 27 as West Indies held PNG to 200 all out off 42.4 overs.

Twice, Brathwaite made key interventions. With PNG cruising on 63 for one, he snatched two wickets to trigger a slide where three wickets fell for 19 runs.

When PNG recovered to reach 151 for four, Brathwaite struck three more important blows to ensure the final collapse of the innings.

“We started well but their batters countered everything we threw at them, while scoring at a decent rate,” Brathwaite explained.

“For me, it was just to come in and put the ball in the right area and try to back up what Jason (Holder) and Kesrick (Williams) had started. It’s probably the best I’ve bowled for a long time - I had good rhythm behind me.”