Bridgetown, Barbados – Fast bowler Ravi Rampaul was awesome with the ball and bowled his way into the hearts of West Indies fans at Kensington Oval, on Thursday – National Heroes Day.
The lion-hearted effort of 4-34 from nine overs was however not enough to prevent the Windies from going down for the third time in the Digicel One-Day Series.
The bowlers were asked to defend 171 in 45 overs and Rampaul put his hand up as Pakistan were made to work hard for their 177-7 from 40.1 overs. The visitors won by three wickets to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match rubber.
"When I went out I realised the pitch was offering extra bounce and some movement and I decided to exploit it. I knew we made a low total so I had to be spot on from the start. I knew if we were going to win the match we had to take all 10 wickets so I was looking to bowl Pakistan out," Rampaul said after the match.
"I was hitting my areas from the start and I was feeling really good in my body and in my mind. When I got the first two wickets I knew we were in with a huge chance and I decided I would go right through to the end and try to finish the job for the team. I felt I did a good job but the disappointing thing was that we lost the match."
Operating from the Malcolm Marshall End at the south, Rampaul got wickets with his first two balls to get the crowd into the match. Among those in the stands was legend Sir Garfield Sobers, Barbados’ only living National Hero.
"We lost the match and Pakistan won the Series, but we won’t fall apart. We are getting closer to winning and we all want to taste that winning feeling. We have two more matches left in this series and we will be playing to win. We still believe we can do the job," Rampaul said.
The fourth Digicel ODI will be played at Kensington Oval on Monday – a public holiday for May Day. First ball is 9.30 am (8.30 am Jamaica Time).