DHAKA, Bangladesh – Captain of the Sagicor High Performance Centre team Carlos Brathwaite said the determination of his side to win impressed him the most on Friday.
Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul grabbed 4-29 from 10 overs to lead the Sagicor HPC’s bowling and built on a solid, all-round performance from Brathwaite to usher the visitors to an 11-run victory over Bangladesh-A in the first match of their One-day series at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.
"The grit and determination to win was the most impressive part of the day," said Brathwaite.
"The batting was a little more disciplined, although we did not manage to bat all 50 overs, but we got pretty close.
"The fielding effort once again was tremendous, the discipline by the bowlers was commendable, and drive to win was most impressive."
Permaul earned the Man-of-the-Match award, but Brathwaite felt that Warrican’s spell of 10-2-28-2 was pivotal in clinching the match for the emerging West Indies players.
"When Jomel came on to bowl, the balance of power was 60-40 in Bangaldesh-A’s favour, and he completely turned the tide in our favour," said the big all-rounder.
"Permaul came on at various stages of the game and he bowled extremely well in all and deservedly got the Man-of-the-Match award.
"But the two spinners bowled well in tandem – and Warrican has been a revelation on the tour so far."
Brathwaite had led the way for his side with four fours and two sixes in 64 from 78 balls, as they were bowled out for 225 in 48.2 overs, and returned to cause instability in the Bangladesh-A batting with two wickets in his first over, a performance he described as "satisfying".
"I felt I was letting down the team with bat and ball in the previous games on tour," he said.
"I was not getting the scores I wanted and I was not making the impact with the ball that I wanted, but it all came together thankfully – and it came together in a winning cause, which was most important."
Brathwaite said the aim was to clinch the series with a victory in Sunday’s second match, but the Sagicor HPC players were relishing the challenge presented by the A-Team.
"We have trained hard and we wanted to play against the best opposition that we could find to truly test ourselves," he said.
"It made no sense having a false sense of hope. We welcome the stronger test and so far we have overcome in this first match, and we want this to continue for the rest of the tour."
He concluded: "It is our intention to clinch the series in the second game – a victory again and progression as a team most importantly.
"One of the goals will be to bat all 50 overs, which will be progression and a victory within itself."