Preparation key to West Indies ODI success against Bangladesh

As the West Indies savour their 3-0 One Day International series success against Bangladesh in St Kitts & Nevis, comments from captain Shai Hope and assistant coach Floyd Reifer point to solid preparation.

Although both teams are lowly ranked, it was good to see the positive approach by West Indies.

Significantly, in all three matches West Indies batted second. It is no secret that the Warner Park ground is small and the pitches were excellent for batting but the job had to be done.

In sequence, West Indies won by five wickets, seven wickets and four wickets.

There were maiden ODI centuries for Sherfane Rutherford (113) in the first match and fellow left-hander Amir Jangoo  (104 not out) on debut in the last. (See summarised scores).

Rutherford, a 26-year-old Guyanese now with 12 ODIs, made the most runs (167) and also topped the averages (83.50) for West Indies. Keacy Carty scored 161 (Ave: 53.66), Hope 106 (Ave: 53.00) and Brandon King, also 106 (Ave: 35.33).

Jayden Seales was the top bowler with five wickets (Ave: 17.00, Econ: 4.47), followed by fellow pacers Alzarri Joseph with four (Ave: 27.50, Econ: 5.50) and Romario Shepherd, four (Ave: 41.50, Econ: 5.75), and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, three (Ave: 47.33, Econ: 4.73).

“Anytime you win a series, it’s always good. Before the series, you could see a group of guys raring and ready to play cricket, so you can’t ask for a better result than 3-0. We’ve been planning well, and we’ve been playing good cricket, so it’s just great to see that we can get over the line and actually sweep the series,” Hope said.

“It was pleasing for me as a leader to see everyone putting their hands up in different situations.

“There’s not one particular guy doing the bulk of the work every single time. Sherfane has been consistent for the last three series, and it’s great to see guys contributing when the team needs it most, so I’m very happy with where the team is at this point.”

Hope also commented on the knock by Jangoo, a 27-year-old Trinidadian.

“It’s great. I always speak about the accolades and milestones coming after the fact, but the way he played throughout the innings was impressive. It’s great to see him get a century while winning the game for the team. I’m very happy to see him get runs on debut,” Hope said.

Jangoo is the second West Indian to score a century on ODI debut following Barbadian Desmond Haynes, who made 148 against Australia at the Antigua Recreation Ground in 1978.

Reifer, a former West Indies captain, gave an assessment after the second match.

“This series was important for us, as before the series started, we set our goals in terms of where we want to be at the end. We sit at number 10 in the ODI rankings, but when we started in 2023, we were 15 to 17 points behind everybody. By the end of this series, we’ve cut that lead to just two points behind number nine,” Reifer said.

“When we first started, our middle-over batting was a challenge. Over the past year, we’ve worked hard to address this, and to see it come to fruition is very rewarding.

“Preparation is key. The guys are preparing better, and we’ve built a culture of intense, purposeful work. Conversations in the dressing room between players and coaches have also helped elevate our game.”

Summarised scores:

1st ODI, December 8: West Indies won by 5 wickets (with 14 balls remaining).

Bangladesh 294/6 (50 overs) (Mehidy Hasan Miraz 74 – 101 balls, 6 fours, 1 six; Tanzid Hasan 60 – 60 balls, 6 fours, 3 sixes; Mahmudullah 50 not out – 44 balls, 3 fours, 3 sixes; Jaker Ali 48, Afif Hossain 28, Soumya Sarkar 19; Romario Shepherd 3-51, Alzarri Joseph 2-67).

West Indies 295/5 (47.4 overs) (Sherfane Rutherford 113 – 80 balls, 7 fours, 8 sixes; Shai Hope 86 – 88 balls, 3 fours, 4 sixes; Justin Greaves 41 not out, Keacy Carty 21, Evin Lewis 16).

2nd ODI, December 10: West Indies won by 7 wickets (with 79 balls remaining).

Bangladesh 227 (45.5 overs) (Mahmudullah 62 – 92 balls, 2 fours, 4 sixes; Tanzid Hasan 46, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 45, Afif Hossain 24, Shoriful Islam 15; Jayden Seales 4-22, Gudakesh Motie 2-36).

West Indies 230/3 (36.5 overs) (Brandon King 82 – 76 balls, 8 fours, 3 sixes; Evin Lewis 49, Keacy Carty 45, Sherfane Rutherford 24 not out, Shai Hope 17 not out).

3rd ODI, December 12: West Indies won by 4 wickets (with 25 balls remaining)

Bangladesh 321/5 (50 overs) (Mahmudullah 84 not out – 63 balls, 7 fours, 4 sixes; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 77 – 73 balls, 8 fours, 2 sixes; Soumya Sarkar 73 – 73 balls, 6 fours, 4 sixes; Jaker Ali 62 not out – 57 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes; Afif Hossain 15; Alzarri Joseph 2-43).

West Indies 325/6 (45.5 overs) (Amir Jangoo 104 not out – 83 balls, 6 fours, 4 sixes; Keacy Carty 95 – 88 balls, 10 fours, 2 sixes; Gudakesh Motie 44 not out, Sherfane Rutherford 30, Brandon King 15, Roston Chase 12; Rishad Hossain 2-69).

Keith Holder is a veteran, award-winning freelance sports journalist, who has been covering local, regional and International cricket since 1980 as a writer and commentator. He has compiled statistics on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1 (rebranded Elite in 2012) Championship for over four decades and provides statistics and stories for the BCA website (www.barbadoscricket.org).

Email: Keithfholder@gmail.com