MULTAN, Pakistan– Stroke maker Shamarh Brooks has backed West Indies to put up another sterling fight in Friday’s second One-Day International against Pakistan but conceded the searing heat in Multan could be a factor in the Caribbean side’s performance.
West Indies went down by five wickets in Wednesday’s opener in 45-degree Celsius heat at Multan Cricket Stadium in the east-central Pakistan city but not before posting a 300-plus total – they’re second in as many outings following the tour of the Netherlands.
Brooks, who scored 70 in that encounter, said it was important West Indies repeated the critical elements from the first game.
“Winning is a habit, and we’ve just come off a perfect tour of the Netherlands, and the guys are in good spirits,” the right-hander said.
Shamarh Brooks plays a sweep during his half-century in the opening ODI against Pakistan.
“And to come into the first game and put up a total of 305, it speaks volumes to the progress we’ve been making over the last five or six months. We’ve just got to trust the process to come back and do it again [in the second ODI].
“We’ve been working very hard as a team, a lot of discussions have been going on about our games, and once we go out there and apply what we’re supposed to do, I think we’ll come out with another good game in this second ODI.”
West Indies played the Netherlands series in chilly temperatures, dipping as low as ten degrees. Celsius, so the humid conditions in Multan have struck a stark contrast.
After navigating 42-degree temperatures on Thursday, West Indies will deal with a high of 40 degrees for Friday’s contest, and Brooks said it was essential to conserve energy in the field.
“We lost Kyle (Mayers) early [in the first ODI], so Shai (Hope) and I had a pretty good partnership, and we realized it was pretty hard in the first half-an-hour of batting,” Brooks explained.
“Our communication was good; we decided that when it was a sure single, we wouldn’t push as hard and try to save as much energy, to take it as deep as possible for the team.
“But it has been pretty challenging. Coming on to the back end [of the day], it cools down a bit – I’m not saying it gets much easier, but it’s cooler than that first session of play.”
He added: “But I think the guys did exceptionally well regarding how they held up coming from the contrasting conditions in the Netherlands. I think we’ll be fine going into this next game.”
Hope struck his 12th ODI hundred in the series opener, but captain Babar Azam responded with his 17th to lay the foundation for the hosts’ win.
The matches are day/night, bowling off at 4 pm (7 am Eastern Caribbean time).
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