Bangladesh thrash West Indies to take 1-0 lead
After crushing West Indies in the Test series, Bangladesh continued their winning form by beating West Indies by 5 wickets in the first One-day international match played at Sher E Bangla Stadium, Mirpur on Sunday. It was a good bowling performance by Bangladesh bowlers to restrict West Indies batsmen to modest total and then the hosts chased down the target with ease.
West Indies captain Rovman Powell won the toss and decided to bat first. Kieron Powell and Shai Hope gave the team a steady start adding 29 runs for the opening wicket. Shakib Al Hasan dismissed Powell for 10 runs. At the end of 10 overs, West Indies scored 31 for 1. The Bangladesh bowlers did not allow West Indies batsmen to score runs easily and picked wickets at regular intervals. Shai Hope provided some resistance at the top of the order.
Roston Chase and Keemo Paul added 51 runs for the seventh wicket. Chase scored 32 off 38 balls while Paul hit some big blows at the end and was dismissed for 36 off 28 balls. West Indies posted 195/9 in 50 overs. For Bangladesh, Mortaza and Mustafizur Rahman took 3 wickets each.
Chasing 196 runs to win, Tamim Iqbal played cautiously while Liton Das showed aggression. Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das added 37 runs in 8 overs. Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes went in quick succession to leave Bangladesh at 47 for 2 at end of 10 overs. Liton Das and Rahim steadied the ship with 47 runs stand for the third wicket. After the fall of Das' wicket for 41, Rahim and captain Shakib played with positive intent adding 57 runs for the fourth wicket.
Soumya Sarkar and Rahim put up another solid partnership for the 5th wicket. Rahim reached his half-century off 59 balls. Rahim remained not out on 55. Bangladesh won the match by 5 wickets with 89 balls to spare.
Bangladesh 196 for 5 in 35.1 overs ( Rahim 55*, Liton Das 41, Shakib Al Hasan 30, Chase 2/47) beat West Indies 195 for 9 in 50 overs ( Shai Hope 43, Paul 36, Shakib Al Hasan 3/35, Mortaza 3/30) by 5 wickets.
Bangladesh now have a 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series. The second ODI will be played at Dhaka on 11th December.