Windies look to rebound
WEST INDIES are eyeing improvement as they look to avoid a series defeat when they face Bangladesh in the second One-Day International of the three-match series here today.
The day-nighter at the Guyana National Stadium will be pivotal to the Windies halting their losing trend in ODIs, that has seen them slump to ninth in the ICC rankings – two spots below their Asian opponents.
West Indies lost Sunday’s opener by 48 runs to slip 1-0 behind in the series and another defeat would see them go without an ODI win in a bilateral series in 12 months, f ollowing winless campaigns against England and New Zealand late last year.
Head coach Stuart Law said he was expecting an improved performance especially with the Windies aware of what was required.
“There are a few areas we need to work on. The boys understand where they have fallen down and where they need to improve and we’re going to have another chance to get it right tomorrow,” the Australian said yesterday.
West Indies paid dearly for several lapses in the opening ODI, both in the field and when they batted.
West Indies will be look ing for a bigger contribution from talismanic opener Chris Gayle.
Bowling first, they struck early but were then put under the cosh by Tamim Iqbal (130 not out) and Shakib-al-Hasan (97) who put on a record 207 for the second wicket to propel the visitors to 279 for four.
West Indies let Bangladesh off the hook by missing chances in the field, while their bowlers were loose at the death conceding 53 runs from the last three overs, with seamer Andre Russell’s final over leaking 21.
Law warned his side about t he importance of taking catches as well as the disciplined required late in the innings.
“If we hang on to our chances [tomorrow] – if we’d hung on to our chances the other day, we probably would’ve chased 220, 230,” he explained.
“With their firepower down below, they can be quite dangerous in the last five to 10 overs but we’ve got to put that (defeat) out of our minds. It’s hot, it ’s humid, there’s potentially rain around but that’s what you get down here in Guyana.”
West Indies will also need to pull their batting together as rookie left-hander Shimron Hetmyer top-scored with 52 but was the only one to pass fifty.
Talisman Chris Gayle chipped in with 40 but none of the other specialist batsmen got into the 20s as the Windies lost five wickets for 31 runs in the space of 33 deliveries, to slump to 172 for nine in the 41st over.
The final ODI is set for Warner Park in St Kitts on Saturday.
SQUADS:
WEST INDIES: Jason Holder (captain), Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Kieran Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Mohammed, Rovman Powell, Keemo Paul, Andre Russell, Ashley Nurse, Devendra Bishoo, Alzarri Joseph. BANGLADESH: Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Nazmul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Hider, Abu Jayed.