DHAKA, Bangladesh (CMC) — Captain Darren Sammy was left defending under-performing opener Chris Gayle after West Indies slid to a 3-2 defeat in the five-match One-Day International series against Bangladesh here Saturday.

The left-handed Gayle, one of the finest limited overs batsmen in the contemporary game, managed just 72 runs from five innings in the series as the Caribbean side’s batting struggled throughout.

Sammy contended, however, that the team’s performances did not centre on one player.

“I would like to see all my players perform. Things don’t always go the way you want them to. Obviously Chris is a very experienced player and I know he will come back good anytime,” Sammy told a media conference.

“Credit to the Bangladesh team for the way they bowled at him throughout this series. They had a plan and they stuck to it. The team doesn’t revolve around one person, it’s a collective set of people to go out there and do what is necessary for us to win.”

He added: “I don’t blame people, I’ve always said that cricket is a team sport. We’ve got to pull together as a team. It’s not every day the same people will perform and today we got a performance from (Kieron) Pollard and (Darren) Bravo and Kemar (Roach) got five wickets. We just need more performances from the team and that would make us more successful.”

West Indies entered the series with their batting as their strength but failed to live up to expectations. They were dismissed in the opening ODI in Khulna for 199 to lose by seven wickets and crashed for a paltry 132 in the second game, chasing 293 for victory.

Even when they chased a moderate 228 to win the third game, they needed Marlon Samuels’ century in order to triumph after the batting struggled again, and they mustered just 211 off 50 overs in the fourth game before their bowlers defended well.

On Saturday, Pollard emerged from poor form to slam a stroke-filled 85, while Bravo, perhaps the most consistent batsman in the series, scored 51.

The pair added 132 for the fourth wicket to repair the innings after the Windies had slumped to 17 for three.

“The difference between the two teams is that we lost. We have not played our best cricket [in this series] but we still put ourselves in a position to win the series,” Sammy pointed out.

“Today we had a good partnership and we crumbled again. At one point we were looking like a score of 240 plus, but we didn’t capitalise on that partnership with Bravo and Pollard and we got bowled out for 217.”

Bangladesh started poorly, losing their first three wickets for 30 runs, but the outstanding Mahmudullah (48) and captain Mushfiqur Rahim (44) rebuilt the innings with a 91-run, fourth-wicket stand.

Nasir Hossain (39 not out) and Mominul Haque (25) put on another 53 for the sixth wicket to further frustrate the Windies.

“To ask our bowlers to come back and defend it (217) again [was difficult],” Sammy conceded.

“We did get early wickets but the captain and Mahmudullah batted really well and put together a partnership. The difference in the game is that they had another partnership of fifty plus …

“I am a guy who believes everything happens for a reason and probably they deserved to win this series because we haven’t played our best.”