DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC – Exciting stroke-maker Marlon Samuels has pointed to his new found maturity as the reason behind his form, since returning to international cricket following a two-year ban.
Yesterday, the right-hander unfurled a high quality, unbeaten 88 to fire West Indies to an impressive eight-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second One-Day International here.
The knock was Samuels’s fourth consecutive over 50 on the tour to date and he said his new approach to batting was paying dividends.
“The hard-work is paying off. I have been putting in a lot of work and I’m seeing the benefits,” he explained.
“One of the main areas of my batting since my return to international cricket is that I’m a lot smarter and more patient at the crease.
“Before, when I was younger, I used to come out and go for my shots from the word ‘go’, but now I acknowledge that I have to spend time at the crease before I look to push on. That is my new approach and it is working well for me.”
Samuels started slowly on Saturday before blossoming to stroke 12 fours and a six off just 74 balls to guide West Indies to 221 for two off 42.4 overs, in reply to Bangladesh’s 220 all out.
He shared a second wicket stand of 111 with opener Lendl Simmons who banged 80 from 125 balls, in a partnership that proved to be the decisive phase of the contest.
“It was a good pitch and we paced the situation perfectly. Simmons and myself, we are in very good form at the moment, and we were able to carry the team to the winning total,” Samuels said.
“It was a fairly small total to chase and we batted sensibly to win the match. In the end the margin would suggest it was an easy win, but no match at international level is ever easy.”
He added: “We came here to Bangladesh with the mindset that we would play some hard cricket. They can be a difficult team. We would never come here and take them for granted. We want to be more consistent as a team and make play smarter cricket as a group.”
On the current tour, Samuels has already posted scores of 30, 102 not out, 58 and 71.
West Indies, who hold and unassailable 2-0 lead, will face Bangladesh in the third and final ODI of the series in Chittagong next Tuesday.
