West Indies head coach, Daren Sammy has described his team’s performance in the just concluded ODI series against Bangladesh as “poor and disappointing”.
The regional side produced an abysmal performance in the third and final One Day International on Thursday, losing by a mammoth 179 runs to surrender the series 2-1.
Their bowlers were scrappy, allowing the visitors to pile up 296 for eight in their 50 overs – the highest total of the three-match series – and in response they were bundled out for 117, with only Akeal Hosein, who batted at number nine, scoring more than 20.
Speaking in a post-match press conference, a visibly frustrated Sammy admitted that his troops underperformed in almost every aspect of the game.
“I’m really disappointed in the way we’ve bowled. I mean look at the ODIs we’ve played this year [against] Ireland, England, even at home against Pakistan.
“You come in Bangladesh and spinners should be licking their lips, because that’s the area where you will get to execute your plans in the most favourable conditions for you, and what we displayed over the last three games have been very poor,” Sammy said.
“We’ve not been consistent enough, and all three games we’ve allowed Bangladesh to score above [average]. I thought it was more like a 3.5 runs an over pitch and every game we’ve had to score over four runs an over.
“And with the bat, again every time the challenge comes we lie down and die, except for when a Keacy Carty or Shai Hope put their hands up in challenging times.
“I’m very disappointed. Bangladesh played pretty well, kudos to them, but we didn’t match them skill for skill with ball, bat or in the field, so they are deserving winners,” the head coach maintained.
Sammy said while the West Indies were not at their best in any of the three matches, he was particularly upset with the manner in which they approached the series decider.
He said even though the team had spoken about the importance of the match, their performances on the pitch left a lot to be desired.
“I think it’s a mindset. When we explained in the dressing room what this game means; you know we’re looking for automatic qualification, we have two teams fighting for the last spot before the cut off period and then you have a series decider on the line.
“Your mindset must be ‘I’m the one to do that’. You saw the mindset of the [Bangladesh] batters; they were like, ‘I’m going to be brave on that wicket, I’m going to set the tone’ and the score didn’t reflect the wicket. The batsmen came in, decided to be brave in the Power Play and that put us under pressure and we took so long to answer…and we paid heavily for it,” Sammy said. (CMC)
