BSS, Chattogram :
West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite termed his side as a ‘confident team’, stating that now all got the proof that ‘we are not a depleted side like the way people would like to say us.’
The Caribbean side is touring Bangladesh with a team that missed out 12 first choice players who pulled out of the tour with Covid-19 concerns. The players included Test captain Jason Holder and ODI captain Keiron Pollard as well as the likes of Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmayer and others.
The tag ‘depleted’ was further attached with the team when they were whitewashed in the three-match ODI series. No one however gave them even an outside chance to win the Test series given that they were also swept in two-match Test series in Bangladesh in 2018, being demolished by the Bangladesh spinners.
“I won’t say it was a depleted side. I was very confident when leaving with this side. We were outplayed in 2018, and we were confident we would do better this time,” West Indies stand-in captain Kraigg Brathwaite said on Sunday after the match.
Bangladesh however was without the service of their premier spinner Shakib Al Hasan who did not bowl after bowling six overs in the first innings following a fresh thigh injury.
But that couldn’t take the gloss off from the West Indies who chased down 395 runs to achieve the victory. This was the highest chase in Asia and fifth highest successful chase overall in Test cricket history that further proved the significance of the win.
A debutant Kyle Mayers played an incredible 210 not out to lead the victory and he was ably supported by another debutant Nkrumah Bonner who made 86. Together they added 216 runs for the fourth wicket, after West Indies was reduced to 59-3. They also thwarted Bangladesh for two full sessions to lay the platform of famous victory.
“I have believed in this team from Day one. It’s just believing ourselves and to back our plans, and that’s what we have done till Day 5. We lost some momentum with three wickets in the evening, but the pitch was playing well. We knew it was an open game. We trusted our plans, and Bonner and Mayers showed that they can stick to the plans, and make it work,” he added.
“Was happy with the score [of 76 in the first innings], Jermaine Blackwood, Mayers and Joshua Da Silva had also played well. On a pitch not giving up, the bowlers gave it all. Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach and the spinners all did well to keep them under three an over,” Brathwaite concluded.
