Dubai, Oct 18 (CRICKETNMORE) West Indies captain Jason Holder has hailed Darren Bravo's eighth Test century on a difficult final day pitch and said his entire team had showed plenty of character, despite their 56-run defeat against Pakistan in their day\/night opening Test.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Bravo stroked 116 at the Dubai International Stadium here on Monday as the West Indies, chasing 346 for victory, came up short on 289 in their second innings to fall 0-1 behind in the three-Test series, reports CMC.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It was a quality innings and he batted really well in both the first and second innings," Holder told reporters afterwards.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I think he showed a lot of maturity in both those innings. He spent some time, he gave himself a really good chance to get a score and you could see the determination on his face and in his expressions and even his body language I thought it was very, very positive."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Hopefully we can continue in this vein and keep Darren Bravo leading our batting," he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Unbeaten on 26 at the start with the West Indies at 95 for two, the left-hander survived the loss of partner veteran Marlon Samuels for four to the first ball of the day, to keep Pakistan at bay.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He faced 249 balls in a marathon 63\/4 hours at the crease and struck 10 fours and a six. He anchored half-century stands with Roston Chase (35) and Jason Holder (40 not out), to carry the West Indies' victory bid late into the final session.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
However, with perhaps one of his few false strokes of the innings, he mistimed a drive back to Yasir Shah in the final hour to be seventh out at 263 and Holder said that dismissal was the turning point in the contest.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"That was obviously a crucial moment there. Bravo was the set batsman, he'd played beautifully up until that point, but it was tough coming out of the rough with Yasir Shah," he explained.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I thought he bowled really well, he was very, very challenging and he made it difficult for us to score and also defend."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"If you look back at it, you see a lot of things in hindsight, but obviously at the moment when Bravo got out we would've probably asked him to go on a little longer."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The West Indies were always up against it once they conceded a lead of 222 on first innings after Pakistan had piled up a mammoth 579 for three declared in their first innings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
However, with leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo taking eight for 49, the West Indies bundled out Pakistan for 123 in their second innings to open up the game.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Holder said the batting effort from his side in both innings and the bowling in the Pakistan second innings, was cause for encouragement.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I am obviously disappointed that we lost. At the end of the day it is still a loss, but having said that there are lots of positives I can take from this game," he pointed out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"One thing is I am really proud of the guys for the way they fought. I must commend the guys, they stuck it straight through to the end, all the bowlers gave a really big effort on a pitch that didn't give much assistance to them and I can't really fault the effort of the guys."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I just think it was a very, very good team effort. Unfortunately we didn't get over the line and unfortunately we didn't save the game, but there are a hell of a lot of positives to take from this game."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
--CRICKETNMORE<\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2016\/10\/west-indies-skipper-jason-holder3.jpg", "alt_img": "Image for Windies skipper Holder thrilled with team effort despite losing to Pakistan", "alt_title": "West Indies Skipper Jason Holder", "image1": "", "video": "", "seo_title": "Windies skipper Holder thrilled with team effort despite losing to Pakistan", "seo_desc": "Dubai, Oct 18 (CRICKETNMORE) West Indies captain Jason Holder has hailed Darren Bravo's eighth Test century on a difficult final day pitch and said his entire ", "seo_keywords": " Jason Holder, West Indies Cricket Team, Pakistan vs West Indies", "tag": "", "tagging": "", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "0", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": "0", "slug": "windies-skipper-holder-thrilled-with-team-effort-despite-losing-to-pakistan", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": "0000-00-00", "ians_time": "00:00:00", "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "trash": "0", "view_count": "1476", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "0", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2016-10-18 15:00:00", "updated": "2016-10-18 15:00:00", "img_from": "", "img_source": "", "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "news_keywords": null, "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "1", "jio_date": "2016-10-18 15:00:00", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": "2016-10-18 15:00:00", "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": null, "article_content_type": null, "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/windies-skipper-holder-thrilled-with-team-effort-despite-losing-to-pakistan-20359" }