West Indies allrounder Roston Chase revealed that he had no doubts his side would get past the finishing line against Papua New Guinea in their T20 World Cup opener in Guyana.
The hosts found themselves in a spot of bother in the run chase after PNG finished with a below par 136/8. From 61/1 at one stage, the home side was reduced to 97/5 and at that point, they still needed 40 from the final 4 overs. However, PNG couldn’t pull off the upset as Chase managed to get the job done alongside Andre Russell.
“For me it was just to take a bit of time to get in because watching on all the batters that today took a while to before they really got the pace of the wicket and in terms of playing the strokes,” Chase said on his unbeaten 42. “So, it was just that for me and then backing myself in the end to really take it deep. And then, as you said, put my foot on the gas. Obviously, we had the likes of (Romario) Shepherd and (Andre) Russell to come, so I never had any doubt that we would be able to get away the ball in the end. So that was just my mindset.”
Chase also mentioned that he entered the World Cup full of confidence having batted well recently in the series against South Africa and for West Indies A during their recent tour of Nepal. And he attributes that confidence to the hardyards he has put on.
“I am full of confidence even before this knock,” he remarked. “I mean, I had a good series against South Africa then I was on the A-team tour in Nepal and had a good series there and then I mean I’ve been putting in a lot of work back home and obviously in the camp before the South Africa series so it’s just for me to just go there express myself when I get the chance and put everything that I put into practice into the game and entertain.”
“A lot of hard work, sweat, tears, just putting in the hard work. And obviously, believing. I think that’s the main reason. I mean, you can do all the hard work and have everyone rooting for you, but if you don’t have that self-belief, you’re not going to achieve. So, I just think that it’s for me to back any hard work that I did and also believing in my ability that when I get out there that I was showing my (skill).”
Meanwhile, PNG captain Assadollah Vala admitted that he was happy with the fight put up by his side but rued the lack of runs that could have made life even more difficult for the hosts. “I think we didn’t play the crucial moments the way we wanted,” he said while reflecting on the game. “They had batsmen towards the end, which we didn’t. I think we missed out on a few runs towards the end as well. But I think credit to them.
“They got a lot of experience. So, I think we played really well. We executed our skills really well. Just couldn’t execute towards the end when we were put under pressure but really happy with the overall performance of the boys. Something we can learn from and move forward. I think we came up against a really good side and I’m happy that we put in a really good show today.”
Despite the loss, Vala found positives in a few individual performances. “I think Sese Bau batted really well,” he noted. “The number four batsman he scored a 50 today. Yeah, and John Kariko, the left-arm spinner bowled really well. I think, Alei up front with the new ball. There was a lot of stuff that we did really well. I think a lot of positives to take out from the game today. I think the overall performance was really good but just the key moments that we just couldn’t put the nail in the coffin. But I think as I said before the effort was outstanding, we kept fighting against a really good side so happy really happy.”
