DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC – Not for the first time, West Indies’ batting has come under the microscope, after posting a paltry 122 in their six-wicket defeat to Bangladesh in the opening One-Day International here yesterday.
Sent in, West Indies started badly to collapse to 56 for five and only got beyond the 100-run mark courtesy of a 59-run, sixth wicket stand between top-scorer Kyle Mayers (40) and Rovman Powell (28).
No other batsman passed 20 as seasoned left-arm spinner Shakib-al-Hasan ripped through the innings to finish with Man-of-the-Match figures of four for eight.
Interim skipper Jason Mohammed afterwards urged his batsmen to exercise more patience, especially in the middle overs against the spinners.
“It was a little bit difficult. The seamers started off pretty well but the spinners really put the stranglehold on us,” Mohammed said.
“Obviously with Shakib it was a little bit difficult for us to score and he got some crucial wickets.
“They bowled well and got the ball to move a little bit. We always knew they were coming with a balanced attack – three seamers and two spinners.
“We have to give ourselves more time. Obviously it’s difficult to score in the middle with the spinners. I think negotiating that part of the innings is going to be more crucial for us and obviously we need to play that period of bowling a little bit better.”
Mayers, who was one of six debutants in the contest at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, agreed more was needed from the batsmen.
“The batsmen need to buckle down a bit longer and read the situation a bit longer and hopefully put a better score on the board so the bowlers can fight,” the left-hander pointed out.
The total was the second lowest for the Caribbean side against Bangladesh, only bettering the 61 they managed in Chattogram 10 years ago.
And left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, who excelled with three for 26 from a 10-over spell, said the attack needed larger targets to bowl at.
“I think we definitely need to put on a bigger score,” said the debutant.
“Having said that, I do think we bowled well so it’s just to give the bowlers something to work with. Hopefully that happens in the next match.”
Hosein bowled superbly, conceding only two boundaries while sending down 44 dot balls.
The highlight of his spell came in the 14th over when he bowled opener Liton Das for 14 with one that pitched on middle and spun to hit the top of off-stump, as the batsmen defended cluelessly.
“With the score that we had to work with, I think the bowlers put their hands up and showed a good performance,” Mohammed said.
“Obviously Akeal was the standout on his debut with three crucial wickets and being very economical as well, so I was very happy with the bowlers today.”
Despite the inexperience of the batting line up, Mohammed said they were capable of much better performances.
“We are inexperienced in terms of batting but I think they are capable batsmen. It was just our first outing [and] the wicket was a little bit difficult. They are capable of doing the job so hopefully next game we can put up a better batting performance.”
