Sammy wants improvement as Windies chase series sweep
Khulna (Bangladesh), Nov 20 (IANS/CMC): Despite their convincing victory in the opening Test, West Indies captain Darren Sammy believes his side can still improve further, as they face Bangladesh in the second Test starting Wednesday.
The West Indies brushed aside Bangladesh by 77 runs at the Sher?e?Bangla Stadium in Dhaka but needed a strong bowling effort after they were led on first innings and then also batted poorly in their second turn at the crease.
Speaking ahead of the encounter at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium which is hosting its first ever Test, Sammy said his batsmen were still struggling in the second innings and this was an area where they needed to step up.
“I would like us to improve our second innings batting. This is something that has affected us in the past, where we only bat well in one innings and don’t back it up in the next,” said Sammy.
“It was a much better effort in this Test, but it’s still something we can improve. The guys who scored runs for us in previous Test series, like Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and myself, we didn’t get much in the first test, yet we still got a big total, so its good contributions are coming from different members of the team.”
In Dhaka, the West Indies piled up 527 for four declared with veteran left?hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul getting an unbeaten double century but Bangladesh produced an excellent reply to reach 556 all out.
The Windies were then bundled out for 273, leaving the hosts with 245 to get for victory.
Fast bowler Tino Best snatched five for 24 to cripple Bangladesh late on the final day.
Sammy hailed the Caribbean side’s bowling effort and said tour management was now mulling over including an extra pacer for the second Test.
“We took 20 wickets. In order to win Test matches, you have to take 20 wickets, you have to be able to bowl out the opposition twice,” Sammy noted.
“I think it was a good decision to play the extra bowler in the first Test. Veerasammy Permaul created some important breakthroughs for us. Neither (Sunil) Narine nor I bowled as well as we could in the second innings. The way Tino Best bowled and the way they played him, we may be tempted to play Fidel Edwards, since he too is quite pacy.”
Saturday’s victory was the third straight Test win for West Indies following their clean sweep of the two?match series against New Zealand during the summer.
And with Test wins a rarity for West Indies in recent years, Sammy said capturing the second Test would not be only important in terms of a convincing series win but it would extend a winning streak which was important to building team confidence.
“The previous match was a hard?fought victory for the team. We have seen more of (the Bangladeshis). We know how competitive they will play, so we can formulate a better plan for them going forward, both batting and bowling,” Sammy added.
Squads:
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Mahmudullah (vice captain), Tamim Iqbal, Zunaed Siddique, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib Al Hasan, Naeem Islam, Nazim Uddin, Nasir Hossain, Mohammed Elias, Shahadat Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Abul Hasan, Shohag Gazi.
West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice captain), Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Assad Fudadin, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Veerasammy Permaul, Kieran Powell, Ravi Rampaul, Marlon Samuels.