Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, is confident his team can take some positive momentum into next week's first Test after they ended the one-day series against Pakistan with a pair of victories. Pakistan took the series 3-2, but West Indies finished with a one-run win in Barbados, followed by a comprehensive 10-wicket success in Guyana on Thursday.
Chasing 140, West Indies reached the target without breaking a sweat, as the openers Lendl Simmons (77 not out) and Kirk Edwards (40 not out) cruised home in the 24th over. Mohammad Hafeez was the Player of the Series but Simmons was the highest run scorer over the five games, with 279 runs at 69.75, including four half-centuries.
"Simmons has been great all throughout and again today he demonstrated his ability with the bat," Sammy said after the win. "His shot-selection was superb, and he formed a very good partnership with Kirk, who also played well. It is good to see we are getting performances like these. The players are growing and the self-belief is there.
"We now look ahead to the Test matches with confidence. Some new players will be coming in to join the setup and we know we will maintain the same momentum we had during the ODIs."
The victory was set up by a fine bowling effort led by Ravi Rampaul, who took 4 for 45, while Sammy himself picked up 3 for 30. It is the first time in Sammy's short captaincy career that West Indies have strung together two consecutive wins in any format, excluding matches against the Associates.
"[It was a] great way to end the series, we asked for a win and we got one here today," Sammy said. "The crowd was superb and they gave us the positive vibe from the start. I want to thank the fans for coming out and showing us so much love. We fed off that and went out and delivered in style. The bowlers did another fantastic job for us. They pegged back the Pakistanis and our fielding was also tops."
The Test series begins in Guyana next Thursday, before the second and final Test starts in St Kitts the following week.