'We've progressed' – Mortaza is delighted with Bangladesh's ODI evolution

Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh skipper, was delighted with the way his team bounced back from the loss in the second ODI, and said they were a "more balanced side" now.

"Winning eight out of 12 ODI series makes it clear that we have progressed, and we are playing with confidence," said Mortaza. "We have the New Zealand series coming up. It is an important series for us since we lost to them last year. I think we have a more balanced side, and we hope to do well there."

Bangladesh opted to field and had a fine day out, their bowlers restricting the Windies to 198/9. Then, Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar, at No.3, scored 81 and 80 respectively to power the chase.

"Combination is important for a team," said Mortaza. "Not that we always get it right, but the execution is more important. The bowlers executed their plans today. Winning the toss was vital too, but the bowlers did the work for the batsmen. Soumya is ideal for No.3 and he delivered. It is all about execution and holding your nerve."

As for the future of his own career, which has been ridden with injuries, the 35-year-old said he would keep that decision till after Bangladesh's last match at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019.

"Since 2011, I have always felt this way before a game, that 'what if I get another knee injury, and this will be my last game?'," Mortaza said. "To be honest, I've never deeply thought about it [retirement]. There are challenges ahead and I want to be more prepared to face those. What I will do after the World Cup, I will decide after the [team's] last match in the World Cup."

Meanwhile, Rovman Powell, the Windies captain, conceded his side had misread the pitched and had erred in leaving out Oshane Thomas. "We did (misread the pitch)," he said. "If we hadn't misread the wicket, we wouldn't have dropped Oshane Thomas. He is our fastest bowler, and I think we needed him on that wicket. It's just one of those things, we thought the wicket will spin a little bit more and it didn't spin.

"We didn't know about so much dew at this ground. It's even more dew than in Dhaka. We are just reading the conditions wrong, and that is just a part of human nature."

The Windies did have something positive to take out of the series – Shai Hope was named Player of the Tournament after he amassed 297 runs in three matches, including two unbeaten centuries.

"Shai Hope batted beautifully throughout the entire series," Powell said. "We can take a lot of courage from him. In both games, he stood up and batted fifty overs. He showed that the wickets here in Bangladesh (he) can do well on. It's just about applying ourselves.

"We have to say congratulations to him. But through the entire series, the batting unit didn't stand; it has been a problem for us over the last few series and, to be honest, we aren't improving."

The teams will now clash in a three-match Twenty20 International series, starting with the first T20I in Sylhet on 17 December.