West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin said that changing Suleiman Benn’s end during the Tamim Iqbal-Mominul Haque third wicket partnership was what swung the St Lucia Test his way
Mohammad Isam17-Sep-2014West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin said that changing Suleiman Benn’s end during the Tamim Iqbal-Mominul Haque third-wicket partnership was what swung the St Lucia Test his team’s way. As soon as Benn had Tamim caught off a top edge, the home side took the next seven wickets in 18.5 overs to win by 296 runs.Bangladesh were 48 for 2 when Tamim and Mominul consolidated to add 110 runs for the third wicket. They played out a wicketless session – Bangladesh’s second such period during the Test series. They survived a Darren Bravo drop when Mominul, on 29, edged to him at first slip.After both batsmen had reached their slowest fifties in Test cricket, Ramdin asked Benn to change ends and bowl with the wind blowing from the on-side. Tamim gave Shannon Gabriel a catch and the collapse ensued.”We were trying to keep the run rate down and trying to create the opportunity but we didn’t take that chance,” Ramdin said. “We also tried to switch the bowlers around, and make them hit [Suleiman] Benn against the breeze. He [Tamim Iqbal] tried that and it came off for us.”When asked what made the Bangladesh batsmen vulnerable in both Tests, Ramdin said: “They go hard at the ball when the balls are shaping away from them. A lot of slip-catching was done in this match. [Kemar] Roachie bowled fantastically well. I think at one point they were looking for the ball going away and it came back at them, especially for their captain [Mushfiqur Rahim].”Ramdin felt that had Bangladesh had wickets in hand on the final day, it could have led to an open game. “It was a very good batting pitch, still,” he said. “Going into the fifth day, it could have gone either way with wickets in hand. But it becomes very difficult for a new guy coming into bat here and get a start.”He praised the contributions of Man of the Match Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Man of the Series Kraigg Brathwaite. Chanderpaul was not dismissed once in the series while Brathwaite scored his first double-hundred in an aggregate of 324 runs at an average of 108.”Those two stood out throughout the series for us,” Ramdin said. “Kraigg’s double-century and Shiv didn’t get out in the series. They batted and batted, and took the opposition out of the game. It was an all-round team effort. Leon Johnson coming in for his first Test, he batted really well. Roach bowled exceptionally well in the first innings, and Sulieman Benn put up his hand in the second innings and he bowled long overs so he got the result he wanted.”West Indies will now tour India in October for five ODIs, a T20 and three Tests before heading to South Africa. Ramdin said even though his bowlers had learnt a lot from the two Tests against Bangladesh, he expected more out of the batsmen.”Playing in India is always tough. We have some players who have to come in as well. Chris Gayle is not here but our bowlers have been bowling well. It’s going to be challenging. I think today’s outing, been out there for a long period of time, gave our bowlers some hardwork going forward into that series. So they know what it is, going for a session and a half without a wicket and that’s going to take a toll on their body when we get there. It’s good mental preparation as well.”Everyone has done their part in this match, going forward we’ll look to build on that success. We didn’t have the runs that I wanted and expected, but that’s how it goes sometimes and hopefully in India we can have a better outing with the bat.”Chanderpaul, who reached his 30th Test century and is now four short of Brian Lara’s 34, said his mantra was to tell himself to remain at the crease when the day ends and come back to bat the next day.”I obviously feel great, winning the Test match was the most important thing,” Chanderpaul said. “It was our aim from the beginning, get as much as we can from the first innings and see where we go. As a batter, you can’t think about getting out. You have to think about coming to bat the next day. I was trying to maintain that and hopefully I can carry on wherever I go.”It was all gloom for Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur, who was left picking up the pieces after a second Test series loss. He conceded the team had not found out a way to avoid a collapse during crucial periods in a match.”It has been a problem in the last couple of years,” Mushfiqur said. “We haven’t worked it out yet. It is all sorts of mental and skill-related things. Sometimes it is skills, sometimes it is mental. We need to be tough. Because this is Test cricket, we need to be tough for the whole session, not one or two hours.”I think Tamim, Mominul, Mahmudullah, Al-Amin played well, as did Taijul. But we need to improve a lot as a group. We have a home series coming up against Zimbabwe which will be a tough one so all the boys will get a break and let’s see how it goes.”