Was under no pressure to bat as Gayle: Powell

Visakhapatnam: A sudden injury to Chris Gayle gave Kieran Powell a berth in West Indies's playing eleven for the second ODI and the young left-hander, who struck a fifty to set up the visitor's series-levelling win over India, said he was under no pressure to live up to senior teammate's reputation.

"I cannot play the way Chris Gayle bats. I just wanted to play my game and enjoy it. It worked in our favour and we won," said a modest Powell, who scored 59 while opening the batting, at the post-match media conference last night.

"We believe we can beat any team in any way and in any conditions. Obviously, we have not been playing good cricket on this tour, we have not been building partnerships.

"But no one is carrying their bat through. Nobody batted through in thhis match despite getting good starts. Obviously we had enough performances to get the job done. We are looking forward to build on that from here."

Having tasted their first victory on the month-long tour, that had seen them go down meekly in the two-Test series 0-2, the Windies would now look to wrap up the ODI rubber with a win in the third and final match at Kanpur on Wednesday.

"We'll be very confident after this win. The momentum will be with us. Obviously, it will be a day game, so it will be totally different in terms of dew. We just have to assess the conditions and play accordingly," Powell said. 

-PTI

arite powell. this is your chance to shine. you are the senior opener now