It gave me great pleasure to witness the improvement in ODI cricket played by the West Indies. Although they are tenth in the ODI world rankings and Bangladesh are just one above them at ninth, the important factor is that the only way to improve is by winning.
That is what builds self-confidence and assists players to develop a winning mentality. It doesn’t matter that it’s another lowly placed team, the idea is that if the side is good enough to advance in the ratings then they have to win and win convincingly.
I have to commend the captain, Shai Hope, and head coach, Daren Sammy, for this improvement. Winning is all well and good, but it is the way the batsmen went about it that gave me the most satisfaction.
In the first ODI, with a mixture of excellent batting and indifferent bowling on a perfect wicket, WI did a marvellous job in chasing 295 to win.
Having grown accustomed to WI batsmen faltering, especially when chasing a substantial total, I was pleasantly surprised. In this game, Hope, with a skipper’s determination, entered the crease at two for 27 and didn’t depart until the score was 193, being the fourth out.
More than that, he guided his younger teammate, the left-handed Sherfane Rutherford, to a brilliant hundred. The Guyanese, producing some fantastic innings since the tour of Sri Lanka, showed his increasing maturity by guiding the score to 288, almost completing the victory, with the assistance of Justin Greaves, who ended with 41 not out. I was thrilled to realise WI batsmen could chase a sizable target and win, with five wickets in hand.
The second ODI brought a refreshing approach born of a newfound self-confidence thanks to the impressive performance in the first game.
Whatever Daren Sammy said to his boys, it worked. Jayden Seales bowled magnificently, sending back batsmen for two, three and four, following up with top-scorer Mahmudullah for 62. He ended with the spectacular figures of four wickets for 22 runs in nine overs! Gudakesh Motie bowled well, but more consistency in the bowling is required.
Nonetheless, the team looked more businesslike, improving with a strategy that was more pragmatic. One could see the difference in the side’s determination and self-confidence. It was quite apparent that they understood the meaning of winning and felt they knew how to go about accomplishing it. As a spectator one could sense the urgency – a missing virtue in the recent past.
With 228 runs to win, the batsmen all contributed, winning by seven wickets.
The true test was ahead of them. Now is when their mentality would be tested. They had won the series, with one match left to be played. Their opponent would be coming hard, for they wouldn’t want to complete the ODI tournament without a solitary win.
It’s at times like this that a winning team’s mettle is tested. Every game that is played is played to win, or there’s no reason to participate. Nevertheless, some teams in that situation tend to see no point in the contest, having already proved they are superior.
That is a bi
