DUBLIN, Ireland, CMC – Captain Jason Holder yesterday turned his attention to West Indies’ one-week camp in Southampton, as the Caribbean side looked to correct the flaws exposed in their defeat to Bangladesh in the Tri-Nations Series here.
West Indies lost both group games to Bangladesh and then suffered a five-wicket defeat to the Asian side in yesterday’s final at The Village, after failing to defend 210 in a match reduced to 24 overs per side. Their two wins in the tournament came against hosts Ireland.
They will travel to the Rose Bowl today to start their final preparation for the World Cup, and will be joined by members of the squad who missed the Tri-Nations Series due to Indian Premier League commitments.
“We’ve got some time in Southampton before we prepare for those two official warm-up games of the World Cup,” Holder said following his side’s loss.
“So there’s more than enough time to put things right and for those guys to come in and get acclimatised to the conditions and hopefully we can hit the ground running come our first warm-up game.”
Sent in, West Indies finished on 152 for one with Man-of-the-Series Shai Hope top-scoring with 74 and opening partner Sunil Ambris getting an unbeaten 69, the pair posting 144 for the first wicket.
Rain caused a five-hour break in the innings with West Indies well poised on 131 without loss in the 21st over, and they managed only another 21 runs from the 23 balls available.
Opener Soumya Sarkar then lashed a sparkling 66 off 41 deliveries in a 59-run opening stand with Tamim Iqbal (18), before adding a further 49 for the third wicket with Mushfiqur Rahim (36).
When Bangladesh lost three wickets for 34 runs in the space of 25 balls to slump to 143 for five in the 16th over, Mosaddek Hossain (52 not out) struck the fastest ODI half-century by a Bangladeshi in a 70-run, unbroken partnership with Mahmudullah (19 not out) to stun West Indies.
Holder conceded his side had been outplayed by Bangladesh and that the team had not been quite up to scratch.
“They played well. I think their openers got them off to a really good start and they laid the foundation for them,” Holder said.
“We were probably a little flat in the field at the beginning. We dropped a chance, had a few fumbles in the field which didn’t help. Overall, it was not the performance we were looking for.”
Following the camp, West Indies travel to Bristol where they face New Zealand on May 26 in their first official warm-up before taking on South Africa two days later at the same venue.
They clash with Pakistan in their World Cup opener on May 31 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
