DHAKA, Bangladesh – Coach of the Sagicor High Performance Centre Graeme West said he’s banking on his lower-order batsmen to inch the team to an unlikely victory, after another batting collapse on Tuesday left them in danger of losing their tour match against Bangladesh-A.
Impressive spin bowling from Veerasammy Permaul and a half-century from Kyle Hope were undone, when left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib captured 4-27 from 14 overs, triggering another batting collapse.
Hope hit the top score of 52, Marlon Barclay made 33 and Andre Fletcher added 20, as the Sagicor HPC, chasing 239 to win, stumbled to 120 for six at the close on the penultimate day of the four-day match at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.
Permaul had taken 4-44 from 27 overs, as Bangladesh-A were dismissed for 186 in their second innings about half-hour before tea.
"The current partnership is going to be very important," West told WICB Media. "Jahmar Hamilton and Yannic Cariah survived the last 20 minutes or so [on day three] with a few alarms, as the Bangladesh A-Team really put a squeeze on us.
"But if Hamilton and Cariah can get through the first 15 or 20 minutes in the morning, and start to score, as well as survive, then one big partnership can get us very close."
West added: "We still have some batting to come. Permaul has proven that he can be handy with the bat, while Jomel Warrican and Sheldon Cotterrell, at 10 and 11, provided us with a match-winning performance in one of our warm-up games before we left the Caribbean.
"It is not beyond us, but it is going to be very difficult. It is a wonderful opportunity for two guys to be match-winners for us."
West said the players had come to terms with how a single bad period can put you under pressure to either save or win a match.
"The first innings was very disappointing, given how well we have bowled and fielded on the tour, and batted in the first game," he said.
"It was the first session on this tour in which we let ourselves down, and Andre Fletcher apart, the guys did not perform and made elementary errors against the spin."
He said: "But the players owned up to their mistakes, and in the second innings, they have played with a more measured approach.
"While we were dismissed quite easily in the first innings, the bowlers have been made to work much harder in the second innings."
West said the worn pitch has made batting difficult, but he and the rest of the coaching staff have emphasised the requirements for prevailing in such circumstances.
"We had some good conversations with the players on the second day after the disappointment of the first innings," he said.
"We have worked on getting them to recognise that they have a lot of time to bat in this format of the game."
He said: "We talked about trying to reduce the risk and getting more familiar with conditions and the bowlers before taking a more positive approach.
"The good thing is we started to see it in the second innings and, hopefully, the players can take this on-board in the future and put it into practice."
West also praised the bowlers for keeping the Sagicor HPC in the match, dismissing the experienced Bangladesh A-Team for less than 200 twice.