Pooran: West Indies will be stronger for World Cup experiences

• Next time we’ll be on the right side of these close matches, vows promising batsman after 118-run show
• Admits he is humbled by comparisons with West Indies legend Brian Lara

West Indies century-maker Nicholas Pooran wants to use his side’s disappointing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign as a learning experience.

The 23-year-old left-hander made his maiden ODI century and his highest score in any senior cricket as the Windies suffered a seventh successive tournament defeat against Sri Lanka in Durham.

Pooran hammered an 83-run stand for the seventh wicket with Fabian Allen to give West Indies an unlikely shot at a record World Cup chase but they lost by 23 runs.

It’s the third time they’ve come close to a big scalp in recent weeks, after also losing out narrowly to Australia and New Zealand, scant consolation ahead of their final match against Afghanistan on Thursday.

“This hasn’t been a successful tournament for us but as sportsmen you fail more than you win and this has been a learning experience,” he said, after his 118-run contribution.

“We have a young team and a young batting line-up. Hopefully a lot of guys like me, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope and Fabian Allen have learned from this tournament.

“Hopefully when we play our next series against India we can start heading in the right direction and restore pride in West Indies cricket.”

Pooran and Allen looked to have put the Windies on top before Allen was run out for which Pooran said he ‘felt a bit responsible’. The batsman was then the victim of Angelo Mathews’ first ball in ODI cricket for 18 months.

He added: “Myself and Fabian were in control. The bowlers didn’t know where to bowl and we were scoring easily.

“This is cricket, it’s unfortunate. I had to capitalise in that over. I could have hit the ball for four and six and it’s a different game. I’m just disappointed. We are just finding ways to lose our games.”

Pooran has been marked out as a special player from a young age and this was his coming of age on the big stage, despite being on the wrong side of the result.

He acknowledges the comparisons with Brian Lara and admits that he watched a lot of film of the great man but does not intend to fuel the hype.

“I know people say a lot of things about me but if I don’t perform on the field it makes no sense,” he added.

“I just want to get better and better each day. I have had a lot of starts in this tournament but not converted.

“I don’t know what the future holds – I’m just thankful that I got the opportunity to play and I could show the selectors that I could play.

“I don’t want to be like anyone else, I just want to be Nicholas Pooran.”