After losing the series opener to India on Sunday, West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder has challenged his top-order batsmen to go deeper and score higher on their wickets. West Indies were 79/7 in the first ODI at the Narendra Modi Stadium before Holder (57) and Fabian Allen (29) put on a 78-run stand for the eighth wicket but were bowled out for 176 in 43.5 overs.
"We had to go a little further. To be fair, I don't believe we're that far apart. Our top-order does need to make more effort, place more effort on their wickets, and give themselves a true shot. You can offer yourself a great chance to make up in these situations. You can always be near to run-a-ball at the start of the innings and finish well past run-a-ball at the end. It's simply a matter of our batsmen pushing in a little more for the team "Holder mention
The holder is confident that his team would do better in the second One-Day International on Wednesday.
"We just need to increase pressure on our wicket, there have been too many soft rejections in the innings today (on Sunday). The pitch was a little challenging, to begin with, but we were able to make more effort and put up a far better fight than we did in this game. I can't say I blame the bowlers. Trying to defend our score was always a challenge. It's simply a matter of us recovering. We took a few days break and came stronger."
Holder appreciated Allen's performance but felt the score could have been more challenging if the partnership hadn't ended in the 38th over.
"It was a clear case in which we had to go deep and put effort. Fabian is an excellent batsman. When he gets in, he's one of those guys that can really strike. So I simply try to promote that confidence in him, and we try to establish a nice working relationship. It's very bad he went out; if he'd gone a little longer and we'd built a little more of a partnership, we could have been in a great position to finish the innings excellently."
The 30-year-old also said that they will remember the dew factor as they are ready for the second match.