Bangladesh beat Windies, reach No.5 on scoreboard
Bangladesh met West Indies in a match that was mutually crucial for both the teams to win. Both sides could be just one loss away from being eliminated. There is no dearth of talent within their ranks but they just haven’t been able to cash in on that through this tournament. West Indies and Bangladesh had already lost two matches coming into this game and been victims of the unpredictable English rain.
West Indies had a great start to the series with a dominant win over Pakistan. In a similar fashion, Bangladesh defeated South Africa in their opener. But since then, things have consistently gone downhill for the teams and both teams were hoping to turn the tide in this game.
Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bowl first. West Indies had a bit of a slow start but consistent performances carried them over the 300+ mark eventually. The team suffered an early setback in the wicket of Chris Gayle, who went for a duck on Mashrafe’s ball. It was a big blow from the Bangladesh bowling attack.
Evin Lewis and Shai Hope built the momentum back up with brilliant knocks though. Evin Lewis saw his team through with a stoic 70 run haul while Hope narrowly missed his century at 96. The two shared a 116-run partnership before Evin’s dismissal, putting West Indies at 122/2 in 24 overs. Shimron Hetymer came in next and produced an explosive fifty which included four boundaries and three sixes. It was this partnership of Hetymer and Hope that rolled in the 200 for Indies with a spectacular six from Shimron.
His dismissal in the 44th over, however, staggered the momentum of the team and the team that had once been looking good for a 350+ score wrapped their innings at 321/8.
The Bangladesh bowling line up played an essential part in this with the constant inflow of wickets. Mohammad Saifuddin and Mustafizur Rahman took three wickets each and Shakib Al Hasan followed at two.
Nicholas Pooran (25) and Jason Holder (33) made good cameos but couldn’t retain their wickets long enough to get past 350.
Darren Bravo got in a brief appearance where he hailed in West Indies’ 300 with a smoking six before bowing out at 19.
Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar gave Bangladesh a decent start with 15/0 at the end of three overs. Just as the players were starting to get into their groove though Sarkar was taken by Gayle at 29 runs. Tamim and Shakib al Hasan didn’t cave in to pressure and kept the boundaries rolling even as the rain made a short cameo. Bangladesh looked sturdy at 81 with 11 overs gone. Tamim went on to welcome Bangladesh’s 100 with a stylish boundary.
Shakib al Hasan smashed his way to 6,000 ODI runs and Bangladesh looked good for the fight at 108/1 in 15 overs. Things were looking good for Bangladesh when Tamim Iqbal got run out for 18 off a brilliant bowl and throw by Sheldon Cottrell. Mushfiqur Rahim came and went with a quick dismissal at 1.
Shakib al Hassan brought up 50 in 40 balls but the wicket fall had Bangladesh at a disadvantage with the score reading 139/3 at the end of 20 overs.
Shakib refused to back down without a fight though and continued to hit the bowlers for boundaries. He seemed to have settled in a rhythm and creamed a four to bring 150 runs to the board.
Bangladesh inched ahead of West Indies with 193/3 at the end of 28 overs where the Windies were 140/2.
Liton Das played a cautious innings, letting Shakib hit the big shots while getting a few boundaries in. Bangladesh was set on its way to victory with 200 runs in 29 overs.
The West Indies bowling and fielding was mediocre at best with bowlers giving away runs and fielders missing chances for easy wickets.
Shakib al Hasan got his 9th ODI century and a second one for the World Cup. It was a crucial knock that kept his team well ahead of their opponents in the game.
Liton Das got a half-century in his first match for the tournament. He played the supporting role perfectly in the match till his team was out of the waters. Once Bangladesh looked strong and on the brink of victory he came out to play his natural game, hitting the ball for fours and sixes with a vengeance. He sent Shannon Gabriel’s ball soaring for back to back sixes, two of which were caught, not by the fielders but the bystanders in the crowd.
West Indies looked completely disheartened on the field, missing out on stopping easy boundaries. They looked resigned and their usual fighting spirit was nowhere to be seen.
Bangladesh played a dazzling innings to defeat West Indies for the first time but the WI team made things way too easy for them.
Bangladesh has now moved up to the number 5 spot in the points table with 5 points. West Indies, on the other hand, struggle to maintain their qualifier hopes with just three points to their name.
