Ahead of the second One Day International (ODI) between West Indies and Sri Lanka at Jamaica’s iconic Sabina Park this Saturday, West Indies skipper Shai Hope has issued a clear call for across-the-board improvement from his side. The demand comes just 24 hours after the Caribbean team fell to a 41-run defeat in the series opener at the same ground, a result that has left the side looking to bounce back quickly to stay in contention in the five-match series.
In the opening fixture, Sri Lanka won a comfortable victory after posting a imposing first-innings total of 303 for seven from their 50 overs. Opener Pathum Nissanka led the visitors’ scoring with a polished 79 off 103 deliveries, while captain Kusal Mendis backed him up with a rapid 72 from just 62 balls to push the total past the 300 mark.
West Indies’ response got off to a promising start, but the hosts lost wickets at critical intervals and never managed to build the sustained momentum required to chase down the target. A collapse from 125 for two to 262 all out handed Sri Lanka the win, with pace bowler Dushmantha Chameera claiming the standout bowling figures of four wickets for 67 runs. Hope himself top-scored for West Indies with a 66-ball 56, but his knock was not enough to turn the tide for the home side.
In his post-match press briefing, Hope underlined that every department of the side needed to step up ahead of the second match, noting that fielding and early innings bowling were particular areas for improvement. “In all three areas of the game we could have been a lot stronger, especially in the fielding department. Our bowlers probably could have bowled a lot tighter lines, especially at the start of the innings,” Hope said. He added that the team was well aware of Sri Lanka’s strength capitalizing on loose wide deliveries: “We know the Sri Lankan batters tend to prey on that width that we tend to give them. So we’ve got to tighten up the lines in the next game and then obviously in the field, we gave a chance first ball of the game. So we know where you give great players the opportunity, it’s always going to be difficult.”
Hope also pointed to a lack of clinical batting as a key factor in the defeat, saying: “The openers got off to a great start once again and then we just kept finding ways to get out. We just have to take more responsibility as batters and take the game as deep as we can, and find ways to win games from any position.”
Despite the loss, Hope stood by his decision to put Sri Lanka into bat after winning the pre-match toss, arguing the conditions justified the call. “I just feel in Jamaica you usually get a bit more moisture in the morning time and so the last few years I’ve played here, every time you start at 9:30 a.m. it’s always in the bowler’s favor, so I wouldn’t change that decision,” he maintained.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s game, Hope said the side would not dwell on the opening defeat, instead focusing on turning lessons learned into a improved performance. “You need to put it away. You can’t change anything that’s happened and what’s gone is gone. You just gotta look ahead and ensure that all the learnings we gathered from this particular encounter, we gotta turn things around as fast as we can. We need to make sure we have all the right remedies to come up victorious in the next game and then make it two-one at the end of the series,” he said.