Ahmedabad, Feb 7 (IANS): West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder has urged his top-order batters to go deeper and put up a heavy value on their wickets after losing the series opener to India on Sunday. In the first ODI at the Narendra Modi Stadium, West Indies were in trouble at 79/7 before Holder (57) stitched a stand of 78 for the eighth wicket with Fabian Allen (29) but the tourists slumped to 176 all out in 43.5 overs.
"We got to dig deeper. I don't think we are too far off to be fair. Our top-order just needs to go a little deeper, put a heavier prize on their wickets, and just get themselves a really good chance. In these conditions, you can give yourself a really good chance to make up. You can always be knocking around close to run-a-ball and finish well past run-a-ball at the end of the innings. It's just a matter of our batters to dig a little and take it deeper for the team," said Holder in a video released by Cricket West Indies (CWI).
Holder was hopeful of his team putting up a better show in the second ODI on Wednesday.
"We just got to put a bigger prize on our wicket, too many soft dismissals in the innings today (on Sunday). The pitch was a little difficult to start off but more or less we still got to dig a little bit deeper, put up a much better fight than we did in this game. I can't fault the bowlers too much. Trying to defend the score that we did was always tough. It's just a matter of us to regroup. We got a couple of days off and come back stronger."
Holder appreciated Allen's efforts with the bat but felt that the total could have been more competitive if not for the end of the partnership in the 38th over.
"It was a clear-cut situation where we needed to dig deep and spend time. Fabian is a very capable batsman. He is one of those guys who can strike really well when he gets in. So, I just try and give him that confidence and we tried to build a good partnership. It is unfortunate when he got out, had he gone a little longer and we build a partnership a little further, we could have been in a real good position to finish the innings off nicely."
The 30-year-old signed off by saying that they will keep the dew in mind while preparing for the second match.
"Under the lights, it felt that the ball came on to the bat a little better. There was a lot of dew on the ground. I think it's something to consider going forward. When we had practised a day before the game, there was quite a bit of dew on the ground as well. Dew meant that playing the ball was a bit easier and it wasn't much two-paced in the second innings as compared to the first innings."