With Bangladesh winning their first match on tour, West Indies will need to find a way to level the three-match One Day International at the National Stadium in the second encounter today.
According to vice-captain Shai Hope on the sidelines of the hosts’ final practice session at the venue, “We are 1-nil down so it is important that we put the remedy right and make sure that we tick all the boxes to be ready for the next game tomorrow and get the next two victories.”
Hope, one the best batters in the side and most capped was dismissed for a golden duck in the opening ODI but believes that he still is confident in producing the goods and ending West Indies’ losing streak in the format which now stands at four matches.
“I still feel good, I felt good going into the first game, it is about making sure whatever you prepare doing, you formulate those plans towards success in the
middle,” he said while continuing, “Sometimes you don’t get the runs or the wickets that you want to get so it is important having that confidence and self-belief.”
Kept to just 149 in 41 overs, West Indies will want their top order to do better especially with the glimpse of firepower at the bottom.
The batsmen were visibly uncomfortable in the conditions, particularly when facing Shoriful Islam and Mustazifur Rahman who operated with a barrage of short-pitched deliveries. Also, the turn and bounce of Mehidy Miraz and Nasum Ahmed proved tricky to navigate.
Hope noted, “We still have to find ways to score, picking up singles, finding more boundary options, it is important to learn that as quickly as possible so we can score more freely and when we do that put the bowlers under pressure.”
For the visitors, they will want to put a paltry fielding display behind them and move on to support their bowlers.
With the bat, Mahmudullah was fortunate to get two lives and will want to put in a sterling performance while skipper, Tamim Iqbal could be licking his lips in these conditions and add to his tally of 100 sixes in ODIs, the first batsman from Bangladesh to do so.
Both teams are likely to play the same XI with rain in the forecast.