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VISAKHAPATNAM, India — Opener Kieran Powell said West Indies earned a timely boost of confidence from their victory over India in the second One-day International on Sunday.
Powell was one of the architects of the victory, hitting 59 from 70 balls and shared a 100-run, third-wicket stand with Darren Bravo, as the Windies successfully chased 289 to level the three-match series at the Reddy Stadium.
“Obviously, being 0-1 down in the series, this win was very crucial for us, to level the series and to go to Kanpur, looking to win the series,” he said.
“We believe we can beat anybody anywhere in any conditions, but it’s just for us to put the pieces of the puzzle together now.”
He added: “Obviously, we have not been playing good cricket on this tour, we have not been building partnerships, nobody has been carrying on [from good starts].”
He added: “Unfortunately nobody carried on [in this match] and got a hundred, but we had enough performances to get the job done, so we’re looking forward to building on that from here.”
Powell said West Indies would be looking to use the momentum from this victory to push for a series-clinching triumph in the final match of the series on Wednesday at Green Park in Kanpur.
“We will be very confident going into the next match,” he said. “It is a day match, so totally different conditions in terms of the dew. It’s up north so it might be a bit cooler, but we just have to assess the conditions and play accordingly.”
Powell came into the line-up to replace talismanic, fellow opener Chris Gayle, who has returned to the Caribbean following a hamstring injury.
On whether he was under pressure to fill Gayle’s shoes, Powell said: “[There was] no pressure. I cannot play the way Chris Gayle plays. There was definitely no pressure on me. I just wanted to play my game and enjoy it and it worked in our favour and we won.”