WI vs PAK T20Is | ‘Want to leave West Indies in better place’, Holder after his final ball heroics

‌Jason Holder was a happy man after guiding West Indies to a two-wicket win over Pakistan in a low-scoring but high-octane second T20I in Lauderhill, Florida, on Sunday. His all-round display, including a last-ball four, not only helped the Windies square the three-match series but also pulled the team out of a hole to halt their six-game losing streak in the shortest format.

Holder finished with impressive figures of 4/19 in four overs to restrict the visitors to a modest 133/9 at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground. He was not done for the night as he hit a stunning last-ball boundary in his unbeaten cameo of 16 off 10 balls to take the side home in an exciting finish. And relief was writ large on his face when asked what he would remember from this outing, in the post-match presentation ceremony.

"Just getting over the line, to be honest," he said after winning the Player of the Match. "As I said before, it's been a tough couple of weeks for us. We just needed a win. We brought it down to the very end, unfortunately. But fortunately, we still got over the line."

With 36 required from the last three overs, Holder and Romario Shepherd launched a calculated assault on the Pakistan pace duo of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali. The duo hit two sixes and two fours in those two overs to plunder 28 runs, leaving only eight to be made from the last one. But Shepherd’s dismissal and a tight final over brought the onus back on the all-rounder to finish the game, and he did that in some style.

"I told Romario when we were batting, we needed at least four sixes with the scenario that was posed to us. We got three. We fell probably one short, but we still got over the line. That was our target. Just keeping wickets in hand, obviously, but still trying to hit our strong areas and find the boundary.

"We are powerful players and we know we can find the boundary. But credit to the Pakistani bowlers as well. I thought they bowled really well."

Holder triggered wild celebrations, letting out a huge roar after his last-ball four, indicating how badly he and the team wanted that win. But the former West Indies captain feels West Indies cricket is still a work in progress and wants to leave them in a better place when he steps away from the game.

"I love playing for West Indies, to be honest," Holder said. "One of my things is to leave West Indies cricket better than they came and found it. I still think there's a lot of work to be done. We haven't done justice to our potential over the last couple of weeks, maybe the last couple of years. We've had a fair bit of criticism, which at times is warranted, but we know that winning can be a lot better. We've just got to put it together more often than not.

"I think [lack of] consistency has definitely plagued us, but we've seen that over the years that we can do it. For me, it's just to have that burning desire to make a change, to make a difference. So I keep putting in my best effort when I get a chance with the West Indies."