Bowling was not the fault - Holder

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC): Captain Jason Holder has defended his side's bowling performance in Wednesday's opening One-Day International (ODI), after they failed to defend a venue record 360 at Kensington Oval.

At no time did England's batsmen appear troubled in completing their highest successful run chase, prompting questions about the potency of the Windies attack.

But Holder told reporters he was happy with the composition of the bowling group, pointing out it was difficult in modern ODI cricket for bowlers to dominate.

"If you look at the way England bowled, you could ask England the same question (about potency). It's just the way one-day cricket is at this present time," Holder said following the defeat.

"Not many people bowl out people in one-day cricket - it's a situation of out-scoring the other team. I think that's just the way we've got to look at it. We've got to be clinical in terms of our batting - make sure we bat deep and we bat long.

"And I think once we do that, we've got to be a little more precise in our decision-making when it comes to the balls we want to bowl and stick to it. That's just the way one-day cricket is at the moment. I don't think it is a situation where we can sit down and say impact bowlers here and there.

"It is what it is with what we have. We've got a really good balance and I'm willing to work with them."