Lack of partnerships cost West Indies - Sammy

Darren Sammy has said his team's failure to build on a 132-run fourth-wicket stand between Kieron Pollard and Darren Bravo with another substantial partnership was what cost West Indies the fifth game and the ODI series. Bangladesh succeeded where West Indies failed, Sammy said, and that was the difference between the teams.

"We had a good partnership but we crumbled again," Sammy said. "We didn't capitalise on the Bravo-Pollard partnership. We then got early wickets but the difference in the game was the Mominul [Haque]-Nasir [Hossain] partnership. It came after the captain [Mushfiqur Rahim] and Mahmudullah had a big partnership.

"We also didn't take our catches today. I dropped a crucial catch before that partnership developed. I'm a guy who believes everything happens for a reason, and I think they deserved to win the series."

West Indies made a poor start and played out 34 dot balls from the fourth to the ninth over, during which time they were reduced to 17 for 3. The counterattacking innings from Pollard, who hit eight sixes in his 74-ball 85, and the sizeable fourth-wicket partnership with Bravo set it up for a late surge, with the likes of Sammy and Andre Russell still to bat. But West Indies didn't manage that and had to settle for a mediocre total.

Bangladesh's partnerships came after they also lost three early wickets, all to Kemar Roach. They first recovered through a 91-run stand between Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur and then another 53-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Nasir and Mominul. The 28-run stand between Nasir and Sohag Gazi for the seventh wicket was also crucial, as it took Bangladesh close to their target of 218 runs.

"We haven't played our best cricket in this series but we still were in with a chance to win the series. I would never blame anyone. We have to pull together as a team. It is not every day that the same people will perform," Sammy said. "We got it from Kemar [Roach], who took five wickets, and [Kieron] Pollard and [Darren] Bravo with the bat today. We need more performances from everyone in the team.

Sammy hoped to end the year on a positive note. "This has been a good year for us. We won four Tests in a row and the T20 World Cup. 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 as we could. Monday would be our last international this year and we will look to finish on a high."