SOUTHAMPTON (Bangladesh won toss): West Indies (2pts) beat Bangladesh by 138 runs
A THOROUGHLY professional performance earned West Indies a crushing victory over Bangladesh, whose batsmen were again found wanting. Rediscovering the sort of form that took them to the NatWest Series final in July, Brian Lara’s team batted and bowled convincingly enough to suggest that they can overcome South Africa in the group decider on Saturday.
While Chris Gayle played well for his 132-ball 99, the three additions to the team from midsummer made strong contributions. The recalled Wavell Hinds, who scored 82 off 119 balls, put on 192 in 40 overs for the first wicket with Gayle before Mervyn Dillon wrecked the Bangladesh innings with four wickets in successive overs. Darren Sammy, the first St Lucian to represent West Indies, took two brilliant catches in the gully on his debut appearance, as well as bowling some tidy seamers.
A slow pitch did not suit the opening pair’s natural attacking instincts. Initially, they struggled with their timing, creeping to 62 from the first 15 overs. Gayle, in particular, was obliged to push the ball around in uncharacteristic fashion, but Lara thrashed 20 off seven balls, twice lifting Mohammad Rafique’s left-arm spin out of the ground.
Having dropped several catches and fielded poorly, Bangladesh lost five wickets in the first nine overs, Dillon, obtaining lift and movement, silencing the hitherto noisy Bangladesh supporters as he returned his best figures in one-day internationals, five for 29. West Indies’ only disappointment was that, having reduced their opponents to 26 for five, they failed to dismiss them for fewer than 98. Had they done so, they would have gone ahead of South Africa on net run-rate. If their match this weekend is washed out, it will be South Africa who go through to the semi-finals.
Advertisement
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES
C H Gayle c Khaled Mashud b Tapash Baisya 99
W W Hinds c Nazmul Hossain b Tapash Baisya 82
R R Sarwan not out 30
*B C Lara run out 20
S Chanderpaul not out 18
Extras (lb 6, w 12, nb 2) 20
Total (3 wkts, 50 overs) 269
S C Joseph, D J J Bravo, C O Browne, M Dillon, I D R Bradshaw and D J G Sammy did not bat.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-192, 2-201, 3-232.
BOWLING: Tapash Baisya 10-0-58-2; Nazmul Hossain 10-1-44-0; Mushfiqur Rahman 10-0-40-0; Khaled Mahmud 10-1-57-0; Mohammad Rafique 10-0-64-0.
BANGLADESH
Javed Omar c Sammy b Dillon 2
Mohammad Ashraful c Dillon b Bradshaw 10
Nafis Iqbal b Dillon 2
*Rajin Saleh b Dillon 7
Aftab Ahmed b Bravo 21
Khaled Mashud c Sammy b Dillon 0
Mushfiqur Rahman c Joseph b Sammy 21
Mohammad Rafique c Sammy b Dillon 12
Khaled Mahmud not out 34
Tapash Baisya c sub b Gayle 8
Nazmul Hossain c Bravo b Gayle 4
Extras (lb 2, w 8) 10
Total (39.3 overs) 131
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-13, 2-15, 3-23, 4-24, 5-26, 6-71, 7-71, 8-94, 9-105.
BOWLING: Dillon 10-4-29-5; Bradshaw 10-2-25-1; Sammy 6-0-19-1; Bravo 9-0-44-1; Gayle 4.3-0-12-2.
Umpires: Alim Dar (Pakistan) and J W Lloyds (England).
Man of the match: C H Gayle.