 West Indies will play Bangladesh at St. Kitts in Basseterre in the solitary
T20I and look to salvage at least some pride in the game. Having already lost
the test series, and the ODI series that followed, there is much to play for the
West Indian cricketers and they will look to put one across the Bangladeshi tigers. Click for Live Score Card of West Indies vs Bangladesh
The West Indian squad remains fairly the same as the one that had played in
the ODIs and there are no signs of either Chris Gayle or his troupe of
cricketers who had walked out before the start of the ODI series. Gayle had
been quoted as saying that they were ready to play now, but their 'boss' was
playing hardball.
Floyd Reifer will continue to lead the side, but it will be his batting form
that will be a worry. He hasn't done much with the bat and that is something
that can start affecting one's leadership as well. The thing about Reifer will
be that he would know that he is only a stop gap arrangement as the captain
and that if he has any way to make it back to the side after the seniors return,
it will be as a pure batsman only. So, runs are an absolute must.
Travis Dowlin did score a century in the second ODI, but he was a trifle too
slow to begin with, where as Dave Bernard and Darren Sammy bat too low
down the order. Andre Fletcher had an excellent introduction to T20Is
when he smashed an innings of substance against Australia in the OCC
World T20, but his batting has fallen away after that.
For the Bangladeshis, everything they are touching seems to be turning into
gold. Shakib-al-hasan's leadership has been so good that the original captain
Mashrafe Mortaza has said that he will be more than happy to step aside
for him! The captaincy and the all-round performance - with bat and the ball
- seem to be feeding off each other for Shakib and he is the man they look up
to. Mohammad Ashraful is a batsman in form, and he will look to carry
that in his favourite format of the game as well, while Tamim Iqbal and
Junnaid Siddique will look to give a blazing start to the Bangladeshis, that
has been so missing from the fifty overs format.
The bowling department will be taken care by the spinners, and for that there
can be no doubt. Shakib will be supported by the likes of Mahmudullah and Abdur
Razzaq to get through the twenty overs and tie the West Indian batsman into
knots.
If anything, Bangladesh go as definite favourites, and for West Indies
to have any chance, they need the pitches to be really quick and devoid of any
dryness.
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