KHULNA, Bangladesh, CMC – West Indies captain Darren Sammy yesterday opted for optimism though his side dangled perilously close to an embarrassing series loss at the hands of minnows Bangladesh.
The Caribbean side crashed to a belittling 160-run loss at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, to lose their second successive One-Day International and go behind 0-2 in the five-match series.
“We are going to regroup but it’s probably a good wake-up call for us, and we’ll have to come back harder,” said Sammy following the debacle.
“We are 2-0 down but we’re not out. It would not be a wise thing to count us out because we have been in similar situations before and we have bounced back.
“Bangladesh have played some good cricket and are showing us how to play one-day cricket on these pitches. They have assessed these conditions well and have played accordingly.
“We have to take a page out of the book if we are to win the next one and the two after that.”
Sent in, Bangladesh raised 292 for six off their 50 overs, with teenaged opener Anamul Haque stroking 120, his maiden one-day century, and captain Mushfiqur Rahim getting 79.
Ravi Rampaul snatched five for 49 but could not contain the damage.
In their turn at the crease, West Indies never mounted a challenge and collapsed for 132 off 31.1 overs. They were 63 for two in the 14th over but lost eight wickets for 69 runs off 104 balls.
With the third one-dayer coming up on Wednesday in Dhaka, Sammy said his side definitely needed to improve.
“The brand of cricket that we have been playing, we should play much better. What we have displayed in the last two matches is not what we know we are capable of doing,” he lamented.
“Bangladesh have seized the opportunity and we are on the back-foot now. It doesn’t mean that we can’t go to Dhaka and the change of scenery could bring a change of fortune for us, and keep the series well alive. To be able to achieve this, we definitely have to improve in all areas.”
No West Indies batsman has managed a half-century in the two ODIs, with Sunil Narine’s 36 in the first game still the highest score.
Sammy said if runs were to come, the batsmen needed to show more patience, especially against spin twin Sohag Gazi and Abdur Razzak who have taken the bulk of the wickets in the series.
“I think it is about being more selective. If you look at the calibre of players we have, once we stay at the crease we are going to score runs, but we keep getting out … so far we haven’t been able to put good partnerships together,” Sammy said.
“We have had our troubles against spin in the past but we get better once we spend time at the crease and so far none of our batsmen have done so.
“You just got to play what you see and be patient. We know we are a good boundary-hitting team and once our batsmen spend time at the crease, like we showed in the preceding Test matches, it becomes easier for us to play.”
