Skipper Holder wants consistency

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CMC):

Captain Jason Holder yesterday urged a bigger effort from his specialist batsmen, stressing that this would be crucial since West Indies would be targeting scores in excess of 300 in the three-match one-day series against Bangladesh.

Speaking ahead of today's opener at the National Stadium here, Holder said that it was important that the Windies leading batsmen provide the platform for a large total, allowing the power-hitters to finish off the innings.

"We need consistency. We haven't been consistent in any format for a little while," Holder told reporters.

"We definitely need to attack the powerplay, and that's the way the world cricket is going. The benchmark or par score in world cricket nowadays is 300 runs, so that is something we always set our sights on.

"I think if we get to 300 runs, more often than not, we give our bowlers a chance to defend that, and in order to get there, we have to do a little bit better in terms of our middle overs and rotating the strike."

He continued: "We've got power at the end, and once we keep wickets in hand, that power comes into play, but it's key not to expose our middle to lower order too early to give them too much of the work to do."

West Indies boast the likes of big-hitting openers Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis in their ranks, with exciting rookie left-hander Shimron Hetymer and silky stroke-maker Shai Hope also in the line-up.

There is additional power in the Caribbean side's lower order as Andre Russell has returned to the side for the first time in three years, and Holder and Rovman Powell are also capable of quick scoring.

Holder said that there was no plan to rein in the Windies power-hitters at any stage, however, as their natural attacking approach was the best one from a team perspective.

"These guys are international world stars in terms of white ball cricket, so I expect good things from them," Holder pointed out.

"I leave it down to them to play their game, and I encourage them to play their game as much as they possibly can because that's the best way forward.

"We've obviously formulated our team plans, and I think their games fit into our team plans nicely so, hopefully, they can execute over these next three games."

The second one-dayer is carded for the National Stadium on Wednesday, with the final contest scheduled for Warner Park in St Kitts next Saturday.