… Tamim praises Bangladeshi bowlers
By Clifton Ross
AFTER suffering a 6-wicket loss in the opener of the series, West Indies ODI captain Jason Mohammed said yesterday his players have learnt much following their woeful outing at Mirpur.
The Trinidadian, following the Windies loss, told the media that it was a slightly difficult outing for the new-look team, who will be keen on working out their issues against the spinners in the middle passage of the game.
“It’s difficult to score in the middle overs with the spinners, so negotiating that part of the innings is going to be crucial for us. We need to play that period of bowling a little better and I think we are going to discuss things to see what best plan there is to come up with”.
A paltry 122 was all the Caribbean side could muster and the home team made light work of the chase as they reached their target with almost more than half of their overs intact.
Former number one ranked all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, made sterling return to international cricket after serving a 1-year ban.
The left-arm spinner snatched up magical figures of 4 for 8 as Windies debut spinner Akeal Hosein also basked in the ambience, starring with 3 wickets for the Windies.
“We have to try to put a little bit more runs on the board, we are inexperienced in terms of batting but I think the batsmen are capable of doing the job. It was our first outing, the wicket was a little bit difficult but hopefully in the next game, we can put up a better batting performance.” said the skipper.
Meanwhile, match MVP al Hasan regarding his match-winning outing, said after the game that he was keen on putting the ball in the right places.
“The focus was to put the ball in the right areas and let the ball do the work. I don’t count all the domestic games I played; outside the dressing-room people may think about it but I don’t think about it,” said Shakib.
Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal who stroked a classy 44 with 7 boundaries but shared sentiments that indeed it was a tough surface to play on. He was nevertheless still positive following his team’s win and was keen on remaining focussed ahead of the second ODI.
“We bowled extremely well, not just the spinners, but the pacers as well. It was very difficult to bat because of the conditions and there was no sun throughout the game and it’s just the conditions that made the wicket look difficult; not a pitch where you can play attacking shots from the start,” Tamim said.
Meanwhile, Windies will be looking to square the series come today when the second ODI bowls off at Dhaka.
