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 a dreadful performance in the third and final One-Day International, being defeated by a mammoth 179 runs to lose the series 2-1.
In a post-match press conference, a visibly frustrated Sammy admitted that his team 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 to 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 has been very poor,” Sammy said.
“We’ve not been consistent enough, and in all three games, we’ve allowed Bangladesh to score above [average]. I thought it was more like a 3.5 runs per over pitch, and in every game, we’ve had to score over four runs per over.
“And with the bat, again every time the challenge comes, we lie down and die, except when a Keacy Carty or Shai Hope puts 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,” Sammy added.
Sammy said that while the West Indies were not at their best in any of the three matches, he was particularly upset with their approach to the series decider.
“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.
