Chennai: Middle-order batsman Manoj Tiwary, who guided India to a 34-run victory over the West Indies in the fifth and final one-dayer here, dedicated his match-winning century to those who died in a Kolkata hospital fire on Friday.
“I want to dedicate my man of the match award to all the people who died in the Calcutta hospital tragedy. It was an unfortunate incident and it should not have happened,” Tiwary, who scored 104, his maiden century, before retiring hurt, said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Tiwary, who was playing his only match in the five-ODI series today, said the Chepauk pitch suited him to his style of play.
“I enjoyed it. It wasn’t coming onto the bat, it made my game easier. Generally I play spin pretty well, so I made sure I took advantage of the loose balls,” he said.
The Bengal batsman, who retired hurt in the 38th over due to cramps after hitting 104, said he did a mistake by not hydrating much before the match.
“I didn’t hydrate enough before the match, that is my mistake. I had cramps because of that. I have to hydrate before playing in future,” he said.
He thanked the team management for backing him and making him comfortable in the dressing room.
Gautam Gambhir, who led the side after Virender Sehwag decided to rest himself, gave credit to bowlers for defending the total of 267 and for not allowing Kieron Pollard, who struck a 110-ball 119, to run away with the match.
“We know what Pollard can do on his day, but credit to the bowlers who stuck to their game. It was a matter of just one ball. Every ball he (Pollard) middled was going out of the ground, but you have to stick to your line and length,” he said.
“Our bowlers did just that. We missed Ravichandran Ashwin in the spin department. But Rahul Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja bowled well,” he added.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy was happy with the way his team fought despite losing the series.
“Congratulations to Pollard on his first one-day hundred. It was really good to watch. We have been paying some good cricket, we have been fighting throughout, but unfortunately we are not finishing things off,” he said.
“Everybody expected us to roll over, we did not. We showed our never-say-die attitude. I’d like to congratulate the boys on the effort, the way they supported me in the tough series.” (PTI)