DHAKA, Bangladesh – West Indies captain Darren Sammy said his team’s self-belief never wavered despite being led on first innings by Bangladesh in the first Test which finished yesterday.
The Caribbean side pulled off a convincing 77-run victory to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series after Bangladesh had been set 245 to win at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.
“Credit must go to them for the way they came out and played this match. They batted really well and had a game plan and executed it well,” Sammy told reporters.
“But we always had a belief that we could get a victory, and no matter how hard they fought, we felt we could come out on top.
“I know they will take a lot of positives from this game, but so will we. It leaves the series wide open and we have seen they are not a side that will roll over, so we expect a bigger fight and hopefully we can again be victorious.”
West Indies piled up 527 for four declared in their first innings after winning the toss and batting, but Bangladesh responded strongly with 556 to take a 29-run lead.
The hosts then produced a superb effort to dismiss West Indies for 273 in their second innings but struggled in their run chase as fast bowler Tino Best routed them with figures of five for 24.
“It was a difficult pitch for the bowlers – over 1 000 runs were scored in the first two innings,” Sammy pointed out.
“The effort from Tino, running in hard and putting the ball consistently in the right areas, and getting his first five-wicket haul in Tests was special.
“We knew we needed to get ten wickets to win the match, but we saw how the pitch behaved the previous evening and in the morning session – there was something in it for the spinners and our fast bowlers are much quicker.” (CMC)
