Kieron Pollard (left) and Daren Sammy.
Former West Indies captain Daren Sammy is most well known for bringing the regional side two World T20 titles, but the big-hitting all-rounder has a number of other accolades people don’t remember.
Towards the end of Sammy’s white-ball career, with his appearances on the Test stage long at an end, he was no longer an effective bowler and had been reduced to the odd pinch-hitting role.
But before that, Sammy had earned his spot in the West Indies line-up and achieved some remarkable moments with the ball.
In 2010, Zimbabwe had come to the West Indies to face an under-strengthed side, winning the only T20 the team the teams played against each other.
But during that loss, Daren Sammy became the first West Indian to enjoy a five-wicket haul in the format.
Choosing to bat, Zimbabwe got off to the worst start imaginable after Sulieman Benn removed opener V Sibanda and number-three batsman, Tatenda Taibu, S Matskikenyeri, and Brendan Taylor all without scoring. Benn’s 4-6 from his four overs was a remarkable achievement but there was more work to be done.
That work was taken up Sammy, who had the other opener, H Masakadza caught behind for 44. He also got rid of the resistance from G Lamb, for 11, E Chigumbura for 34 as well as S Masakadza and P Utseya without scoring.
Sammy would end with figures of 5-26, his best ever in the format. Sunil Narine, arguably the best T20 bowler the West Indies has ever produced, has never taken a 5-fer at international level.
The West Indies would go on to bat atrociously to lose a game where they only needed 106 by 26 runs with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (20), Denesh Ramdin (23), and Dwayne Smith (12), the only batsmen to score double figures.
While the result was a disaster for the West Indies, it did point to Sammy’s importance to the team in the shortest format of the game, a format the side were just learning.
Just two years later, with Sammy at the helm, the West Indies would top the world, before doing it again in 2016.
Paul-Andre is the Managing Editor at SportsMax.tv. He comes to the role with almost 20 years of experience as journalist. That experience includes all facets of media. He began as a sports Journalist in 2001, quickly moving into radio, where he was an editor before becoming a news editor and then an entertainment editor with one of the biggest media houses in the Caribbean.
'Quality' Hope still Windies best batsman' - WI legend Dujon backs player to figure things out after dismal run of form
West Indies legendary wicketkeeper, Jeffrey Dujon, is convinced that out-of-favour Shai Hope remains the team’s best batsman, despite recently running into a rough patch of form.
The 27-years-old Hope was dropped from the team last year ahead of the West Indies tour of New Zealand. The decision followed several months of off-colour form, which saw the player return scores of 16, 9, 25, 7, 17, and 31 during the team’s three-Test tour of England in July. Overall, in Test cricket, Hope averaged 19.48 since December 2017 and just 14.45 since February 2019.
The decision to drop the player, however, still stirred vigorous debate around the region, with many arguing that he should have been allowed to play his way back into form. For his part, Dujon has backed the player to figure things out sooner, rather than later.
“There’s no question in my mind that he is the best batsman that we have,” Dujon told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“Technically he is very good, from the very first time I saw him, I thought he was very good and talking to him and getting to know him, I know he is smart enough to work it out when things aren’t going right,” he added.
“He might have gotten his technique a little bit mixed up because of the competitions he was playing in, but I don’t see that lasting very long because he has quality. You don’t go to England and be immortal and not be able to bat.”
Hope grabbed headlines around the world in 2017, becoming the first batsman to score twin hundreds in a match at Headingly in first-class cricket.
Spin twins Shakib, Mehidy have been too much for Windies admits skipper Mohammed
West Indies stand-captain, Jason Mohammed, admits the team’s inability to cope with top-class spinners has been the primary reason it has been unable to post higher totals.
Batting first in both ODIs played to date, being inserted to bat in the first and choosing to bat first in the second, the regional team fell below 150 runs on both occasions. The stifling spin bowling of Mehidy Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan proved to be a major contributing factor in keeping the West Indies batsmen in straitjackets on both occasions.
Al Hasan claimed a jaw-dropping 4 for 8 runs in the first ODI, with an extraordinary miserly economy rate of 1.09 as the West Indies were restricted to 122. In the second, it was Mehidy who applied the restraints, claiming 4 for 25 with an economy rate of 2.59. The West Indies were restricted to 148 before Bangladesh easily chased down the target.
“They are two quality spinners, especially Shakib, one of the best in the world and Mehidy has been playing very well for Bangladesh as well,” Mohammed said of facing off against the pair.
“They have been good, and we haven’t been able to manage them, that’s why we have been getting those low totals.”
Rovman Powell was the team’s top scorer with 41 in the second ODI, while Kyle Mayers led the way with 40 in the first ODI. The West Indies and Bangladesh will face off for the final ODI on Monday at 12:30 am.
West Indies lose again as Bangladesh win series 2-0
Bangladesh took an unassailable 2-0 lead following their seven-wicket win over West Indies in Dhaka this morning.
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