Skipper Hope hails ‘impact player’ Shepherd

NORTH SOUND, Antigua (CMC):

CAPTAIN SHAI Hope has labelled Romario Shepherd an “impact player” following the all-rounder’s cameo in West Indies’ pulsating four-wicket win over England in the opening One-Day International (ODI) here on Sunday.

The broad-shouldered Shepherd smashed a 28-ball 48 in pressure circumstances as the home side chased down a record 326 at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

“He’s an impact player. He’s one of those guys that you can depend on,” Hope said following the contest.

“It’s nice to see he’s consistently doing it and I’m sure that if he continues like this, he’s going to be a great all-rounder for West Indies and in world cricket.

“So hopefully he can continue and all of the guys start chipping in and gaining more confidence and we can get a lot more wins as a team.”

Striding to the crease with West Indies in a spot of bother at 213 for five in the 39th over and facing a required run rate of over 10, Shepherd launched a stunning counterattack with four fours and three sixes, which changed the complexion of the game.

Crucially, he put on 89 for the sixth wicket with Hope, who carved out a sublime unbeaten 109 from 83 balls.

By the time he was leg before wicket to seamer Gus Atkinson at the start of the 48th over, West Indies were within touching distance of victory.

“He was amazing. He’s always amazing and he’s continuing to show his worth at this level,” Hope said.

The 29-year-old Shepherd, who described the innings as “one of his best innings so far”, said West Indies were always confident they could overhaul their target.

“We thought we pulled back the game a lot because when you looked at the start [they got], they were looking up 400,” explained Shepherd.

“So when we got [them] to 326, in the meeting [at the halfway] stage, the coach (Darren Sammy) said ‘we’re going to get this’ because it’s a good batting wicket and we have some good batsmen.”

He added: “I think this bunch of guys is a solid bunch of guys and the first thing is to be consistent. We need to capitalise on these kinds of moments.

“It’s the first win on the board in this three-match series. We have to firstly go now, try to repeat what we did this game into the next game and the other game.”

West Indies face England in the second ODI today.