COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, CMC – West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson has hailed Adrian Barath’s maiden One-Day International century, terming the innings as “something special”.
The 20-year-old right-hander slammed 113 to headline the opening game of the three-match series on Sunday at the Singhalese Sports Club.
“Adrian played a brilliant innings. He played with a lot of maturity. I have been seeing that in the last couple of series, he is starting to mature as a player and ‘finding’ his game and this showed yesterday in that superb innings,” Gibson said.
“It was an innings of total control. The Sri Lankans bowled well early on, in what were difficult conditions for batting, but he stayed there and capitalised in the middle overs.
“It was some of the best batting I have seen for a long time in the middle of an innings between himself and Ramnaresh Sarwan and that got us to a very competitive total in the end.”
Barath faced 129 balls and struck eight fours and two sixes in his sixth ODI innings, which followed on from his magnificent century on Test debut a year ago against Australia when he was still 19.
He shared a crucial third wicket stand of 165 with Sarwan who stroked 75 from 100 balls in his first innings in eight months for the Caribbean side.
Gibson also praised Sarwan, noting that his experience was vital at a time when West Indies needed to rebuild at 42 for two in the 13th over.
“We have always known what Sarwan is capable of. The way he played, it showed that he is a class player, and it was good to see the way he controlled the middle period and put us on top,” said Gibson.
“The partnership was fantastic for us and that is the kind of approach we will need in the future going forward – with our senior players guiding our younger players. It was great to see.
“In tough situations we need them to get us to match-winning totals and ultimately win matches for us.”
Their innings helped West Indies to 245 for five off their allotted 50 overs before rain ended the contest prematurely, forcing a no-result.
The second ODI is scheduled for the Singhalese Sports Club tomorrow.
