The pitch had excessive help for spinners.
West Indies created history by becoming the first team to bowl all 50 overs of spin in an ODI innings. They achieved the feat against Bangladesh in the second ODI in Dhaka.
Bowling first, the West Indies employed spinners from the start and never needed a pace bowler since spinners did the job well on another lacklustre pitch. They had played Justin Greaves as their only fast-bowling option, but he was never required.
| Most overs of spin in an ODI innings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Overs | Opponent | Year |
| West Indies | 50 | Bangladesh | 2025 |
| Sri Lanka | 44 | West Indies | 1996 |
| Sri Lanka | 44 | New Zealand | 1998 |
| Sri Lanka | 44 | Australia | 2004 |
| Oman | 43.3 | Netherlands | 2024 |
The deck behaved similarly to the last match, which both teams had guessed even before the start, and left out Romario Shepherd and Jayden Seales to accommodate Ackeem Auguste and Akeal Hosein in the XI. Five spinners – Akeal Hosein, Roston Chase, Khary Pierre, Gudakesh Motie, and Alick Athanaze – shared 10 overs each and were mostly accurate on a supporting pitch.
Motie snared three wickets, but was expensive and conceded 65 runs at an economy rate of 6.50, while Athanaze and Hosein dismissed two batters each. Athanaze was the most economical bowler, conceding only 14 runs at an economy rate of 1.40, while all other bowlers went for more than four runs per over in their spells.
Bangladesh have historically prepared spin-friendly pitches for home games across formats, but have taken this approach to a new level against the West Indies. The pitch’s colour can often be deceiving, but the brown ones churned out for the first two ODIs were too predictable.
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They have been nothing less than a dustbowl, and the West Indies have done the right thing by employing all specialists and part-time spinners to restrict Bangladesh. They bowled well for most of the innings before Rishad Hossain’s cameo injected impetus to Bangladesh’s innings in the late end phase.
Still, Bangladesh would be happy with the total, even though the opponent has a few quality spin players in the lineup. They were looking to fall short of an above-par score by the end of the 46th set, but the final four overs went for 50 to put them in a commanding position.
West Indies’ aggressive batting can help them put some pressure on the home team, even if they lose a few wickets in the process. However, Bangladesh have quality spinners and will back themselves to do the job as in the previous game because the pitch will become worse to bat on in the second innings.
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