CRICKET WEST INDIES

 

The left-arm spinner had the amazing bowling analysis of 4-0-9-3 to destroy the England batting and earn the Windies a 25-run victory. He opened the bowling and had all three victims clean bowled as England were shot out for 88 off 16.4 overs in reply to 113-5. The result gave the Windies a 1-1 series result. England won the opening match on Friday by 10 wickets.

 

The performance was a belated birthday gift for Man-of-the-Match Mathurin, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Friday. He looked confident from the start and caused problems for the batsmen with his flat, accurate left-arm spin.

 

Playing in just his first match in England the Windies Number 86 said: “I feel really great tonight. To come here and perform so well in just my first match in England, in a West Indies shirt, is just a wonderful feeling. We were defending a small score, so I knew I had to be spot on from ball one. I am used to opening the bowling for St Lucia and the Windwards in T20 cricket so I knew the job I had to do.

 

“I was nervous at the start – if you do not have nerves it means that you are not human – but once I got one or two deliveries to pitch in the right areas, I quickly settled down into doing what I can do. When the England team bowled, we saw some turn from the pitch, so I just tried to mix things up, and make it difficult for them to predict what I was bowling.

 

“At the break between innings we knew we had a chance of winning. We didn’t get a big score but we were confident. The coach spoke to me and said he had faith that I could deliver. Smithy (Dwayne Smith) said we just needed a few early wickets and (Krishmar) Santokie said he was ready. He got the initial breakthrough and things flowed from there. Sammy was cheering me on and telling me to do my thing, so I just stuck to the basics, and did what got me here.”

 

Mathurin added: “As everyone is aware, I came on this trip at the last-minute and I just wanted to show the West Indies public the stuff of which I am made. Everybody has their turn and it’s just that my turn came at the age of 28. The English players hadn’t seen me before so I knew I could go out and get the job done. We have a good team unity going on and the cohesiveness just worked.”

 

Mathurin was brilliant with the ball and also held a good diving catch coming in from the long off boundary. The Windies were superb in the outfield with four run outs – two from direct hits by Devendra Bishoo and Darren Sammy. On Saturday the Windies had an extended fielding session and Mathurin said the extra work paid off.

 

“As a team we felt we had a point to prove. England played really, really well on Friday, so we were playing for some pride, and then we wanted to come back hard at them. We knew we could do it. Hopefully this shows everyone the energy and enthusiasm we have.”