ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – West Indies take on Bangladesh here today in the first Twenty20 International of the three-match series hoping to continue their recent success against the Asian side.
The contest is set for Windsor Park, the venue hosting its first international game in five years following the damage sustained across the country due to the passage of the dangerous category five Hurricanes Maria and Irma back in 2017.
Windsor Park will also host the second T20 International tomorrow with the final game scheduled for the Guyana National Stadium next Wednesday.
West Indies are coming off an emphatic 2-0 sweep in the Test series which wrapped up last week, both matches finishing well within four days in Antigua and St Lucia respectively.
And while only three players from the Test setup – fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, all-rounder Kyle Mayers and batsman Devon Thomas – are involved in the T20 series, West Indies are expected to carry the same confidence into the new assignment.
Significantly, West Indies have won their last two T20 Internationals against Bangladesh, defeating them by three runs in a close affair during the T20 World Cup in Sharjah last October, and also beating them in the final game of a three-match series in Mirpur four years ago.
West Indies won that series 2-1 but lost the first one earlier that year in the Caribbean by the same margin, after winning the opener at Warner Park in St Kitts but then losing the doubleheader at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Florida.
Nicholas Pooran will lead the Caribbean side for the first time in T20s since his appointment as white-ball captain, replacing the recently retired Kieron Pollard.
The left-hander oversaw mixed results in One-Day International away tours last month when he led West Indies to a 3-0 clean sweep of minnows the Netherlands and a 3-0 whitewash at the hands of Pakistan.
His form will come under the microscope during the series, especially after a run of recent low scores. He managed only 24 runs in three innings against the Netherlands and 57 runs, also from three innings, against Pakistan.
However, he will take heart from his last three T20 innings when he gathered half-centuries against India in a three-match series in Kolkata back in February.
West Indies have been boosted for this series by the return of fit-again left-arm seamer Obed McCoy who was outstanding in the Indian Premier League for Rajasthan Royals last May, and for Sussex in the English T20 Blast last month.
The match bowls off at 1:30 pm.
SQUADS:
WEST INDIES – Nicholas Pooran (captain), Rovman Powell (vice-captain), Shamarh Brooks, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Devon Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr.
BANGLADESH – Mahmudullah (captain), Munim Shahriar, Litton Das, Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Afif Hossain, Musaddek Hossain, Quazi Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed