Spin will be main focus once again when Bangladesh face West Indies in the series-deciding third ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today.
After winning by a hefty margin of 74 runs in the first match, Bangladesh came second in the super over after the second ODI ended in a tie.
The second match saw a total of 92 overs of spin鈥�13.4 overs more than the previous match鈥攁fter the West Indies became the first team in history to bowl all 50 overs of spin in an innings.
The defeat in the super over clearly dented the confidence of the home side, who鈥檝e been in a slump after four consecutive bilateral series defeats in the ODIs.
Soumya Sarkar, who played his slowest innings in the second match, admitted that they would be under pressure in the third match.
鈥楾he pressure might have been released had we won the [second] match. Now we must win the last match to clinch the series. So we need to plan accordingly to make a strong comeback,鈥� Soumya said after the second game.
Soumya, who made a comeback in the series, also gave an idea on how the wicket was for the batters.
鈥業t鈥檚 always challenging for all the batsmen. You need to be focused a lot. Because you cannot easily take a single or hit a boundary here. So you have to wait for a loose ball. You also need to develop the skill to get runs off good balls,鈥� said the left-hander.
鈥榊ou can say you need to have the skills and a lot of mental toughness to play on a wicket like this,鈥� he added.
The West Indies, on the other hand, showed their improved adaptability in the second game.
They collapsed in the first match after adding 51 runs for the first wicket, but captain Shai Hope hung in to take the game deep in the second.
鈥榊ou really think that wicket is gonna change?鈥� Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein jokingly said when he was asked what it鈥檚 going to be in the third game. 鈥業 won鈥檛 say we have cracked the code. I think we need to show a lot more batsmanship, especially from the top half.鈥�
He also joked that he thought something was wrong with his TV when he turned up to watch the first game, as the pitch looked exceptionally dark. Hossain defended 10 runs for the visitors in the super over after arriving at the team hotel in Dhaka at 4:00am on the morning of the match.
However, he mentioned that they needed to learn from the second game as well in order to do well in the third.
鈥榊ou know, it鈥檚 quite a difficult job to ask the lower order to hang in against some good spinners, and obviously, it鈥檚 a fairly used ball as well. So, I think we need to learn from this game,鈥� he said.
鈥業t looked like we had it covered from early on, and we just took it for granted and allowed them to get back in the game. So, that鈥檚 one mistake that we have to fix, and I think once we do that and we can set up the game, hopefully, we can win that third one easier,鈥� he added.
