Bangladesh held their nerves to clinch the deciding fifth and final one-day in Dhaka on Saturday by two wickets for a 3-2 series win, their second over the West Indies in three years.
“It was a huge challenge for us, so I would say that this was our biggest win ever,” said Rahim.
Bangladesh won the first match by seven wickets and the second by their biggest margin of 160 runs. The West Indies staged a comeback by winning the next two matches in Dhaka to level the series at 2-2.
Rahim said the manner in which they had played during their 2-0 Test series defeat had suggested the team was improving.
“We deserved to win this one-day series, judging by our performances since the Tests and our cricket skills. We would have at least drawn that first Test had we not made some mistakes. We have shown a lot of improvement.”
Bangladesh restricted the West Indies to 217 in 48 overs in the final match and then overcame early hiccups to chase down the target with six overs to spare. Rahim (44) added an invaluable 91 for the fourth wicket with Mohammad Mahmudullah (48) to set the home team on the victory path.
Meanwhile, West Indian captain Darren Sammy accepted that they were below par.
“We didn’t play our best cricket in this series but we still were in with a chance to win it,” said Sammy. “I would never blame anyone. We have to pull together as a team. It is not every day that the same people will perform.”
Despite the series loss, Sammy said his team had a good year.
“This has been a good year for us. We won four Tests in a row and the World T20 in Sri Lanka. We would have loved to win this series but we didn’t. When we look back at this year, I wouldn’t say it is a step backward. We played as well.”
With the series win, Bangladesh moved to eighth place in the ODI rankings, six points ahead of New Zealand and 10 behind sixth-placed West Indies.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2012.
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