Sat, 15 Oct 2011-Bangladesh vs West Indies, West Indies Tour of Bangladesh 2011-12, 2nd ODI- Bulleti

Windies clinch series with convincing win

Once Bangladesh were in tatters at 1 for three, the series was as good as over because very few teams have the ability to earn a win from such a hopeless situation. The early dismantling of the top order by Rampaul and Roach meant Bangladesh were always chasing the game, even though there was some resistance from the lower order but the 220 run target was never going to be enough once, the visitors had a solid opening stand. West Indies after winning the first ODI clinched the three match series 2-0 with a comprehensive eight wicket win with more than seven overs to spare.

The spirited fight back by the Bangladesh lower order allowed the hosts to put some sort of a total on the board after their top order was blown away by the West Indian new ball pair of Ravi Rampaul and Kemar Roach. They had a calamitous start as three wickets fell in the first ten balls and things became worse when half the side was back in the hut with the score only 58 in the 19th over. But, skipper Mushfiqur Rahim was once again prominent in the rescue act with a fighting 69 and the tail rallied around him to take the score to 220 when at one point even three figures looked unlikely.

Imrul Kayes, Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Ashraful all played horrible shots to be sent back as the decision to bat first by the Bangladesh captain backfired. Actually, more than the bowling it was the poor shot selection of the batsmen that pushed the hosts into a hole from the very start. Shakib Al Hasan tried to launch a counter offensive hitting Roach for three boundaries in one over but paid the price of playing one too many attacking shots to be caught behind. Old hand Alok Kapali and Bangladesh’s go to man in such situations Mushfiqur braved some quality bowling and put on 40 runs at a snail’s pace, using 14.3 overs for the same.

Mushfiqur who at the fall of the fifth wicket had made 22 in 51 balls found a partner willing to grind in the form of Naeem Islam, who unlike some of his distinguished teammates concentrated on risk free cricket. The duo picked the gaps intelligently to keep the score board moving and take Bangladesh past three figures. However, Naeem fell for a soft dismissal when the score was 115 for 6. Meanwhile, Mushfiqur got to his fifty and Nasir Hossain helped him in steadying the ship.

Rahim departed in the 40th over but Hossain continued the good work with an attacking half-century. His 54-ball 50 was punctuated by 3 fours and a six. Together with Razzak, he added 41 at about run-a-ball. The boundaries came in the last overs as well as the hosts added 68 runs in the last ten overs. The disastrous beginning aside, Bangladesh did well to reach 220 on a sluggish track even when Roach and Rampaul shared five wickets between themselves.

West Indies knew that the pitch was good for batting and all they needed was one good partnership to go past the target. Lendl Simmons and Danza Hyatt started cautiously to deny the hosts any wickets with the new ball. But, it did not take long for the hard-hitting Hyatt to unleash some powerful strokes, a six off the Razzak got him going. His brisk 39 run knock ensured that the Windies had some kind of momentum early in the chase. With Simmons who was content to play the anchor role, he added 71 for the first wicket.

Hyatt holed out at long-off but Simmons at the other was determined to take his team home without any alarms. He hit the ball through gaps for ones and two plus the odd boundary to keep the chase going at a good rate. His partner Marlon Samuels too settled into a nice groove, batting with lot of ease.

The two added 111 runs in 21.4 overs to knock the stuffing out of the Bangladesh target. The duo accelerated in the latter half of their respective knocks to make short work of the chase. By the time, the Simmons was dismissed for 80, victory was already a foregone conclusion. Samuels clattered six boundaries and a six in the twelve deliveries he faced after the wicket to hasten the start of celebration in the visitors’ camp. He finished undefeated on 88 off just 74 balls.