Opener John Campbell: Opener John Campbell opined that the West Indies posting 295/7 against India in the first ODI at the Greenfield International Stadium made for a ‘pretty decent total,’ though he felt they were 15 to 20 runs short of achieving a good score on the black-soil pitch.
Campbell, who hit 62 off 60 balls with six fours and three sixes, put on 135 runs for the opening wicket with Justin Greaves, who hit a fluent 101 off 108 balls, including hitting 12 boundaries – his maiden ODI century, despite being troubled by shin cramps.
"I think it just happened. Justin had a really good start, so I just tried to play a supporting role as best as possible to get going," Campbell said to broadcasters in a mid-innings chat.
He felt conditions were harder for the batters to make runs later in the innings, as the West Indies fell five runs short of reaching the 300-run mark on Sunday. "I think it's a pretty decent total, maybe 15-20 runs a little bit short. But having said that, I think when the ball gets a little softer, it's a little bit more difficult to score," added Campbell.
Asked if his Test outing in New Delhi last year had helped him while batting in Thiruvananthapuram, Campbell said, "Well, apparently it's a good outing for me. The ball was coming out pretty decent to the bat, so I just tried to stay in the moment as long as possible and get in a strong position to play good shots."
He felt conditions were harder for the batters to make runs later in the innings, as the West Indies fell five runs short of reaching the 300-run mark on Sunday. "I think it's a pretty decent total, maybe 15-20 runs a little bit short. But having said that, I think when the ball gets a little softer, it's a little bit more difficult to score," added Campbell.
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"Yeah, definitely. With a lot of noise around outside of the cricket, we just decided we just want to come out here and put on a good show for ourselves and make the people back home proud," he concluded.