Marlon Samuels’ second coming [Part 3]
Continued from Part 2 …
Samuels continued to display improvement in the shorter formats of the game, and the subsequent tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 in late 2011 saw him displaying a glimmer of brilliance during the ODIs, scoring 71 and claiming two wickets in the first once-day, and smashing
an unbeaten 88 in the second. He also managed a score of 58 and two wickets in the only T20I, showing plenty of promise as a developing all-rounder.
However, the tour of India at the end of 2011 saw Samuels maintaining the inconsistency of his performances. He managed two half-tons during the extended-overs series, and while the final Test saw him scoring 61 and claiming 5 wickets, his efforts were lost
in the wake of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750’s 2-0 victory. Furthermore, he failed to do much to compensate during the ODI series, scoring just one half-century.
He remained similarly average during Australia’s tour of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 earlier this year. While he was not named in the Test squad, and failed to rise above a top-score of 35 during the ODIs, the long-struggling West Indies team appeared to have struck
an upward path, and they went on to put up a competitive performance against the formidable Aussie side.
However, Samuels made up for it and came out in style against England. While the West Indies were unable to channel the same fighting spirit they had displayed earlier against the Aussies, Samuels, armed with the famous lucky red rag he had requested from
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, appeared to be in a class of his own. His performances in the limited-overs leg of the tour were nothing to write home about, but the right-hander displayed impressive composure during the
Test series, as he tackled both the foreign conditions, and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013’s world-class bowling line-up, with grace and a near faultless technique.
In the 5 innings that he played, Samuels scored a total of 386 runs, among these a century and three half-tons. He provided an element of solidity to the middle order, and his 157-run 5th-wicket partnership with veteran http://www.senore.com/Cricket/S-Chanderpaul-c2390
in the first Test, followed by a 204-run 7th-wicket stand with skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DJG-Sammy-c1382 in the second match, were prime examples of middle-order batsmen anchoring the innings. While the team did not manage to emerge victorious, Samuels had, without
a doubt, cemented his place in the line-up, and his star looked to be on the rise. The comeback was shaping up to be a promising one.
The West Indies’ next assignment was New Zealand’s Caribbean tour, and the host team put up a stupendous effort which saw them triumphing in every format. Samuels continued to impress, and his performances in the extended-overs format continued to improve.
He contributed scores of 123, 52, and 28 during the 2-match Test series, and chipped in during the ODIs with individual totals such as 46, 43, and a stellar unbeaten 101, in addition to taking steady wickets.
Alongside Samuels’ fortunes, things were also taking an upward turn for the West Indies. Long considered the underdogs, the team garnered a huge amount of support prior to the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 this September, and went into
the tournament as one of the favourites. While the Windies left for the competition in high spirits, no one could have guessed that history would be made there – and that Samuels would be the one to do it.
Continued in Part 4 …
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