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West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said that he first thought of hitting sixes of all balls of the sixth over in the first T20I against Sri Lanka after he sent the third ball over the ropes in Antigua. Pollard on Thursday became the second batsman to hit all balls of an over for sixes in a T20 international after India's Yuvraj Singh.
"After the third one ( when he thought about hitting six sixes in the over) -- I felt after hitting a couple of sixes, I understood how the pitch plays," said Pollard in the post-match presentation ceremony. Pollard's six sixes came off an over bowled by Akila Dananjaya, who had taken a hat-trick in just his previous over. West Indies needed 70 runs to chase off 90 balls at the start of the over and Pollard reduced that deficit down to 34 needed off 84. "It was important to be positive and play your shots on that pitch, back yourselves to clear the boundary -- just happy that I managed to contribute to the team's cause at that point of time," said Pollard. "A couple of things went through my mind before the sixth ball -- before the last ball, I thought should I go for the six or take the 30 runs in the over, he went around the wicket and bowled it onto my pads, I told myself 'Wait Polly, take a chance'. That's how I have played my cricket all along, especially against the spinners. Today was my day, unfortunate for him (Dananjaya), but this was a good win for our team," he further said. Angelo Matthews, standing in as Sri Lanka captain for Dasuk Shanaka, who is yet to join the tour due to issues with his visa, said that he asked Dananjaya to go for Pollard's wicket even after the six sixes. "I thought Akila and Wanindu Hasaranga bowled brilliantly -- they had the batsmen guessing. That's a plus point," said Matthews. "Pollard as we know is very destructive. What I told Akila was to go for his wicket even if he gets hit for six sixes. If he miscued one we could have got him out. Unfortunately it didn't happen," he further said. West Indies have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second T20I will be held at the same venue on March 6. --IANS rkm/dpb ( 403 Words) 2021-03-04-12:06:02 (IANS)
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