West Indies won a nerve-wrecking match against Bangladesh by only 3 runs. This match was played at Sharjah on the 29th October .West Indies narrowly avoided embarrassment they are the defending champions & losing 3 matches on trot would have damaged their reputation. There is no significant improvement in the NRR (Net Run Rate) of West Indies as it is -1.598. West Indies have got self belief back that they can advance to the next stage but for that they first of all win the remaining 2 matches[ (Sri Lanka on 4th November at Abu Dhabi) (Australia on 6th November at Abu Dhabi)] & secondly await the results of other teams which may be suspenseful.
Bangladesh had won the toss & elected to bowl first. Bangladesh had to chase down 143 runs to avoid elimination. Dwayne Bravo was the stand in captain for Kieron Pollard (*Kieron Pollard wasn’t rested/dropped). Jason Holder got included into the main squad & in playing 11 (* Holder was kept as a reserve) as a replacement for Obed McCoy who got injured & subsequently was ruled out; Holder along with Russell & Co stranded Bangladesh’s power-play as they lost 2 wickets in which big fish was ‘Shakib’ as Bangladesh managed to score 29 runs.
West Indies made sure that they aren’t giving any freebies as the required run rate was well in the reach of attaining. West Indies had got rid of the dangerous Mushfiqur Rahim in the 14th over when Bangladesh required 53 runs in 39 balls as at that point Bangladesh were reduced to 90 runs for 4 wickets. In the last 5 overs Bangladesh required 44 runs with Skipper Mahmudullah & the Wicket-keeper Liton Das who was pacing the innings smoothly.
Both the batters were having a hit & miss as in the the last 2 overs Bangladesh required 23 runs. On the last ball of the 19th over Liton Das was caught at Long On by Jason Holder on the bowling off the experienced Campaigner Dwayne Bravo. Liton’s dismissal made the equation trickier as Bangladesh required 13 runs in the final over. Liton Das scored 44 runs in 43 balls which included 4 fours as striking the boundaries was tougher due to the pace variations executed by Bravo, Russell & Holder.
Andre Russell was given the duty to restrict the target. Mahmudullah eked out doubles & singles but it wasn’t enough. Bangladesh required 8 runs in 3 balls ; as on the 4th bowl of the over the substitute fielder Andre Fletcher dropped Mahmudullah’s catch. But the equation was 6 off 2 which was gettable yet a long way off as Russell then executed pin point Yorkers to hand Bangladesh defeat as West Indies came out victorious by 3 runs. Mahmudullah gave his all but at the end he was on the losing side; he scored 31 runs in 24 balls which included 2 fours & 1 six.
All the pacers Rampaul, Holder, Bravo & Russell bowled with a lot of responsibility even after getting hit for a six as their experience paid off . Akeal Hossain the lone spinner introduced in the attack had put the brakes by not giving more than 6 overs in his 4 over spell. Jason Holder showed his worth by doing acrobatic fielding & impeccable bowling as keeping him on reserves wasn’t a good move.
West Indies were off to a horrendous start while batting first. They lost both Chris Gayle & Evin Lewis in the power-play overs as they scored 29 runs only. West Indies were losing the plot as at the end of 12th over West Indies were 61 runs for 3 wickets. In the middle of the 12th over i.e. 12.3 overs the skipper Kieron Pollard left the field by scoring 8 runs in 15 balls. The next ball Russell got run-out by the bower Taskin Ahmed at the bowler’s end as West Indies were in a deep trouble at 64-4 (* 5 wickets as there was uncertainty regarding whether Pollard would come in to bat or not) at the end of 13th over.
In the 14th over Roston Chase was reprieved by Mahedi Hasan when he was on 27 runs, wicket-keeper Liton Das missed a stumping chance of Nicholas Pooran when Pooran was on 2 on the spin bowling of Shakib. Both the opportunities went down irking as at 14 overs West Indies score was 70-4. In the last 6 overs Pooran & Chase went into bang-bang mode. In the last over Jason Holder smacked 2 sixes & to finish the innings on a high note Pollard came up with a maximum. The last 6 overs yielder 72 runs as the destruction was laid out by Nicholas Pooran who scored 40 runs in 22 balls. Chase’s knock of 39 runs in 46 balls was questionable but it gave liberty & freedom to Pooran.
Bangladesh saw an anti-climax with ball in hand as they were expecting a target around or less than 130 runs. Mustafizur, Shakib, Mahedi & Co did all the hard work but a short-phase of match proved to be defining.
The unpredictability of batting line up of West Indies needs to get sorted as luckily they got the better of the opponent. There is no room for error as they have to play like Champions of 2016 T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh’s remaining two fixtures : South Africa on 02 November at Abu Dhabi & Australia on 04 November at Dubai is an opportunity to test their bench strength & weaken opponent’s chances as they can’t go all the way which is sad but harsh reality.
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