Bangladesh take a one-nil series lead into the second of three one day internationals against the West Indies when the sides meet in Guyana on Wednesday.
The West Indies’ batting line-up let them down in the series opener in Guyana, where they failed to chase down a score that seemed well within their reach.
Bangladesh started slowly with the bat and were allowed to play relatively risk-free cricket with the willow in hand, but they proved to be comfortably the better of the two sides in this format.
West Indies vs Bangladesh | Wednesday, 25 July | Providence Stadium, Guyana | 20:30
To Win Match
West Indies 52/100
Tie 35/1
Bangladesh 31/20
West Indies
While other nations are finding ways to push the envelope when it comes to batting in ODI cricket, the West Indies continue to fall further behind the elite teams.
Tamim Iqbal may have struck the slowest ODI century in the first match but he was still there at the end which is more than you can say for any of the home side’s top four batsmen. Veteran blaster Chris Gayle had looked the most likely to play a match-winning knock, until he was run out in a mix-up with Shimron Hetmyer.
Failures for Evin Lewis, Shai Hope and Jason Mohammed left the top-order light on runs and the trio under pressure for their places in the team.
The West Indies will need one of their top four to bat for the bulk of the innings, if they are to retain any hope of claiming a series victory in this quickfire three-match affair.
Too much was left to the West Indies lower-order and the series opener quickly slipped away from the hosts. A 10th-wicket stand of 59 added a hint of respectability to the Windies’ total, but they have their work cut out for them if they are to keep the series alive in match two.
Opening bowlers Jason Holder and Andre Russell made an impressive start with the ball, extracting movement and putting the ball in good areas but the bowlers lost their way as the Bangladesh innings progressed in Providence.
Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo proved adept at putting the brakes on during the middle overs, while his spin bowling partner Ashley Nurse also put in an economical shift without overly troubling the Bangladesh batsmen.
The ODI format has been one in which the West Indies have struggled in comparison to both the shorter and longer formats of the game, and they don’t look any closer to cracking the code.
Bangladesh
The 207-run partnership shared between Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan could prove to be a turning point for Bangladesh on this tour.
Bangladesh started the first ODI tentatively, even though they won the toss and elected to bat first on a surface that was true, if a little sluggish, and after an early wicket and rain delay Tamim and Shakib took the fight to the hosts.
Tamim might have looked out of touch at the onset of his innings, but found his groove as his knock wore on. He was in place to give the tourists the big finish that put a competitive target on the board. Shakib provided intent early on, coming in at first drop and throwing his bat at anything that moved, with mixed results.
There is plenty of room for improvement for Bangladesh, even if they appear to be the side in better shape as we head toward the World Cup. The Tigers need to find a way to increase their scoring rate between the 10th and 40th overs.
In the bowling department, the presence of Mustafizur Rahman makes a huge difference, particularly in limited-overs cricket. The left-arm quick brings a death-bowling skillset to the party and can trouble the best in the world if the ball starts to reverse swing.
Veteran seamer Mashrafe Mortaza showed the value of experience as he got stuck into the opposition middle-order in the first match, claiming four scalps to make an immediate impact on the series.
The performance in the first match was far from clinical, but what it did establish was that in this format Bangladesh are currently stronger than their hosts, who are not close to settling on their best XI.
Verdict: Bangladesh 31/20
The tourists were comfortably the better side on the park in the first ODI, and it seems unlikely that the hosts will turn things around in the short time between matches.
