Bangladesh crush West Indies by 8 wickets to seal the series
An all-round effort helped Bangladesh crush West Indies in the 3rd and deciding one-day international played at Sylhet International Stadium on Friday. After winning the toss, the Bangladesh bowlers restricted West Indies to a modest total despite Shai Hope's century, and then chased down the target with ease.
After Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza sent the West Indies in, the visitors got off to a poor start as Chandrapaul Hemraj was dismissed by Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 9 runs. But Hope continued from where he left off in the 2nd ODI, and played some lovely strokes to put pressure on the Bangladesh bowlers.
Darren Bravo, however, struggled to rotate the strike. At the end of 10 overs, West Indies were 45 for 1.
Bravo and Hope added 42 runs for the 2nd wicket before Miraz struck again to dismiss the former for 10 runs. Hope subsequently reached his half century off 55 balls.
A period of dominance by the Bangladeshi bowlers followed, as they picked up the wickets of Marlon Samuels, Shimron Hetymer and captain Rovman Powell in quick succession. That put West Indies under tremendous pressure at 99 for 5.
The visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals while Hope continued his brilliant run at one end. The opener reached his century off 121 balls, but Bangladesh restricted West Indies to 198 for 9 in 50 overs.
For Bangladesh, Miraz was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 29.
Chasing 199 runs to win, Bangladesh's openers Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das made a positive start by slamming 45 runs in the first 10 overs. Keemo Paul then got rid of Das for 23, but Tamim and Soumya Sarkar steadied the ship with some great stroke play.
Tamim reached his half century off 62 balls while Sarkar too got to that mark soon after. The latter tried to up the scoring rate as the innings progressed and was eventually dismissed for 80. Sarkar and Iqbal added 131 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Tamim and Mushfiqur Rahim then ensured that Bangladesh won the match by 8 wickets, with 69 balls to spare. Tamim remained not out on 81.
With this win, Bangladesh sealed the series 2-1. Miraz was adjudged the man of match for his 4 for 29.