Terrible Results For The Windies In The ODIs
Pooran’s weakened WI suffer 11th ODI defeat on the bounce to Bangladesh
Nicholas Pooran’s steady knock of 73 was not enough to steer the West Indies to a rare ODI win over Bangladesh, as his depleted team tasted a four-wicket defeat – and a 3-0 series reversal – to Bangladesh yesterday (16 July).
The captain must have wished that he had never professed how much he liked playing in Guyana, which he voiced following his recent explosive Man of the Match innings against Bangladesh in their 2-0 T20I series success.
Pooran oversaw a hat-trick of ODI defeats to Bangladesh at the Province Stadium in Guyana in a week, and was clean bowled in each innings. He scored 18 in the 1st ODI six-wicket loss, and was out for a golden duck in the 2nd ODI but made amends with a slow 73 off 109 deliveries in the final ODI.
However, the fact that the West Indies have now suffered an astonishing 11 successive ODI reversals to Bangladesh does question why Cricket West Indies (CWI) gave the Trinidadian such a weak squad.
After the hosts reached just 149-9 to set Bangladesh a relatively easy target in the opening ODI, it seemed obvious that the weakened squad was not going to make much of an impact.
The 2nd ODI was a real debacle, with the Windies whittled out for just 108 to taste a shocking nine-wicket defeat on home soil.
It was left to the 3rd ODI to save face, and Pooran led by example. He held their innings together with two sixes and four fours in his 146-minute stay at the crease.
Yet the rest of his team looked hopeless, with just three players reaching double figures – Sint Maarten’s Keacy Carty (33), Guyana’s Romario Shepherd (19) and Jamaica’s Rovman Powell (18).
Overall it was another disappointing and below par batting effort from the Windies. Had Pooran not come up with the goods, then this final ODI would have been more embarrassing for CWI.
The hosts battled to a reasonable 178 all out in the 49th over, their highest score in this ODI series, but found Taijul Islam to be the thorn in their side. Taijul’s first delivery, following a two-year exodus from the ODI game, saw him clean bowl Jamaican Brandon King (8) and finish with impressive figures of 5-28.
It was a very different story with the hosts’ bowling arena, as they became handicapped and ended up using seven bowlers.
Guyana’s all rounder Keemo Paul wasn’t among the bowlers as he pulled a hamstring, and then medium-pacer Powell suffered a side strain after delivering just 11 balls.
It was down to Gudakesh Motie-Kanha, the left-arm orthodox spinner, to impress with the ball. He proved economical and effective to give the Windies a fighting chance.
The Guyanese finished with career-best figures of 4-23 from his 10 overs, having captured the all-important wicket of skipper Tamim Iqbal, brilliantly sending Litton Das back to the pavilion caught and bowled, as well as bowling out both Afif Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain.
In the successful run chase, buoyant Bangladesh reached their target with nine balls remaining and four wickets to spare thanks to Das (50), Tamim (34) and an unbeaten 32 from wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan.
Pooran, who needed 93 balls to score his slowest ninth ODI half-century, admitted: “I am happy to finally get a decent score in ODIs, even though it’s obviously disappointing to lose once again.
“We have to lift our heads from here, and try to learn from this experience, because we have two more tough opponents ahead before we get a break.”
All eyes will be on how the Windies bounce back from this humiliation. They kick-off another three-match ODI series on Friday (22 July), when they face India in Trinidad. This will be followed by five T20Is against the same opponents, before they battle against New Zealand in three ODIs and three T20Is.
WI v BANGLADESH SHORT-BALL SERIES
1st ODI | Bangladesh won by 6 wickets
West Indies 149-9 (41 overs)
Bangladesh 151-4 (31.5 overs)
2nd ODI | Bangladesh won by 9 wickets
West Indies 108 all out (35 overs)
Bangladesh 112-1 (20.4 overs)
3rd ODI | Bangladesh won by 4 wickets
West Indies 178 all out (48.4 overs)
Bangladesh 179-6 (48.3 overs)
1st T20I | Match abandoned
Bangladesh 105-8 (13 overs)
West Indies DNB
2nd T20I | West Indies won by 35 runs
West Indies 193-5 (20 overs)
Bangladesh 158-6 (20 overs)
3rd T20I | West Indies won by 5 wickets
Bangladesh 163-5 (20 overs)
West Indies 169-5 (18.2 overs)
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