Porterfield praises Gayle by Barry Chambers

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Player:	CH Gayle, WTS Porterfield
Event:	ICC World Twenty20 2009

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DateLine: 2nd June 2009

 

Ireland skipper William Porterfield was full of praise for his West Indies counterpart Chris Gayle, following his match winning unbeaten 88.

 

”When you’re only defending 130 it’s always going to be difficult,” Porterfield said. “And when a player of his calibre gets going, it’s not easy to stop. It shows just what we’ll be facing over the next week or so, and it’s up to us to improve as a team.

 

“I feel we’re doing okay with the ball and in the field, it’s just with the bat we need to improve. We need to put more partnerships and bigger ones together when we bat. We’ve got to learn to put a total together and how to build an innings.

 

“I still think the guys don’t realize how much time they’ve got and are a bit impatient. It’s not always about hitting the ball out of the ground. We’ve got guys coming in down the order who can up the rate if needed, so there’s no need to panic early on. We’ve got 120 balls and if we can cut out the dot balls, that’s always going to give you a decent total.

 

“We’re still learning the best way to play this form of the game, and the players have to work out their strategy and game plan to be effective. A few of the guys today got starts but didn’t kick on. Although it’s a shorter form of the game, the same principles apply - playing proper cricket shots and building an innings,” he said.

 

On the decision to bat first Porterfield said, “I would have batted first yesterday as well if I’d had the chance. It takes a bit of the pressure off if you have a score on the board rather than chase. The pitch isn’t going to deteriorate or change much in just 40 overs, so it isn’t much of an issue.”