Nicholas Pooran looking forward to face Bangladesh after 'disappointing' series against Pakistan

West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran, after facing a whitewash against Pakistan in the three-match ODI series, said that he is looking forward to the upcoming series against Bangladesh after a “disappointing” series in Multan. West Indies will take on Bangladesh in two Tests, three T20Is and three ODIs, starting from June 16 (Thursday).

Pooran said that the Pakistan series was a good learning curve, adding that he was really proud of his team for how they took the challenge. He praised spin-bowling all-rounder Akeal Hosein, for his contribution with the bat, who top-scored with 60 runs off 37 balls in the final ODI of the series. “The last two games were disappointing for us. In the first game, we did well as a team. Going forward that’s the template. We’ll learn a lot from this series,” said Pooran after the game.

Multan Crowd support good cricket and that’s appreciated: Nicholas Pooran

After the series in Pakistan was wrapped up, the West Indies skipper lauded the Multan crowd for supporting a good brand of cricket. “Couple of days for the Bangladesh series, we are looking forward to that. They (the Multan crowd) have been amazing, we love the fans. It’s a treat. They support good cricket and that’s appreciated,” he added.

West Indies lost on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method by 53 runs in the third ODI against Pakistan. The hosts batted first and started brightly as openers Fakhar Zaman scored 35 and Imam-ul-Haq scored 62 runs. After a slump in the middle-order with skipper Babar Azam departing for one, Mohammad Rizwan for 11 and Mohammad Haris for 0, it was Khushdil Shah and Shadab Khan who rescued the Pakistan innings with scores of 34 and 86 respectively. Pakistan put a total of 269 on the board, and the pick of the West Indian bowlers was Pooran, who bagged four wickets for 48 runs in his 10 overs.

West Indies, chasing 270, lost wickets in regular intervals in the powerplay, and were languishing at 69/4 in 15.1 overs. The Caribbeans never really recovered from the initial setback although Hosein offered some resistance in the back-end of the innings. Pakistan wrapped up the match after bowling them out for 216 in 37.2 overs and clinched the series by 3-0.