Captain Hope: Windies need to pressure Sri Lankan bowlers

RAIN may have been a contributing factor to the West Indies’ demise in the first ODI against Sri Lanka on October 21, but maroon skipper Shai Hope still wants a more comprehensive effort from his troops in game two, despite weather conditions in Pallekele.

The second ODI bowls off on October 23 from 5am (TT time) and Hope believes the only approach to level the three-match series is to play “like it’s a final.”

When West Indies batted first in match one, a heavy downpour interrupted their innings on 185/4 after 38.2 overs for over two hours. Sri Lanka were set a revised target of 232 in 37 overs, which they achieved with more than five overs to spare.

However, the Windies bowling attack was forced to defend their total using a wet, slippery ball which may have put them at a slight disadvantage. So much so, Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka noted the conditions as a factor in his team’s victory.

Hope agreed the change in conditions would have played a part in the opening result, but remains fully focused on reversing that outcome in the second match, rain or shine.

“It’s all part of the game to be honest, challenging conditions,” he said. “We had hoped that the rains wouldn’t have come in to play a factor (in the result) but we had to find ways to negate that and can’t focus on things we can’t control.”

“We have to find ways to bowl with the wet ball even if we have to do it again in the next game. I think our lines and lengths have to be better depending on whichever surface we play on.”

Regardless of the conditions, Hope also called on his batting group “to show a bit more intent.”

The four wickets to fall for West Indies in the first match all came courtesy fiery spells of Sri Lankan spin. Hope is well aware of the threat and intends to adopt different strategies with the willow to possibly counteract their spin-attack.

“We go to look at the power play and how we need to attack the ball then. How we’re going to attack spinners (is to) put them under pressure. If we got to play different shots, look at different scoring areas and push a little bit hard to make them (spinners) think.

“If we just allow them to settle and bowl then they’re going to be all over us. As a team, as a batting group, we got to ensure we put a lot more pressure on their bowlers so we could give ourselves the best chance to get big scores on the board.”

West Indies are currently tenth on the ICC ODI standings. Hope not only wants victory in the second match, but also a series-winning performance in the third on October 26.

An away series victory augurs well for the maroon at the tail-end of the 2024 season, since they play host to England for a three-match ODI series, from October 31 - November 6, followed by a five-match T20I series against the Three Lions.

Wes Indies close off 2024 with a multi-format series in November/December against Bangladesh in the Caribbean featuring two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is.

Hope added, “We know exactly what’s in front of us (against Sri Lanka). We see where we’re at in terms of rankings on the world stage and we got to find ways to get better and improve quickly.

“We want to make sure we take each game at a time. Seeing what happened in the previous game, we understand how we need to improve in terms of our bowling and batting.

“I think we’ve got our work cut out and the conversations we had in the last 48 hours or so has been pretty good and we’re in a good head space to bounce back on Wednesday.”