West Indies won by 9 wickets
The much hyped Group B Quarter-final clincher between West Indies and Bangladesh proved to be a disappointing non-contest as a packed house at Mirpur was forced to bear the agony of a humiliating 9 wicket defeat with the match lasting a mere 31 odd overs.
Bowling first, the West Indies put on a champions performance, reminiscent of the glory days as just three bowlers were needed to take the wickets as Sulieman Benn (4), Kemar Roach and Captain Darren Sammy (3 each) knocked over Bangladesh for 58 runs, the fourth lowest total in World Cup history. West Indies didn’t take long to chase down the neglible score, finishing the game within 13 overs with Chris Gayle scoring most of the runs.
The day started with Bangladesh winning the toss and elected to bat first with captain Shakib Al Hasan hoping the team could build on their win against Ireland and perhaps return to the kind of form the top order showed against India in the tournament opener. However, Bangladesh had the wort imaginable start with Kemar Roach removing the dangerous Tamim Iqbal for a duck in the first over for naught. Iqbal chased a delivery angled across him and the ball took the outside edge through to skipper Sammy at second slip.
Junaid Siddique joined Imrul Kayes in the middle and looked good as he hit a boundary in the same over and then square cut Benn in the following over. Sammy was on the ball thought and immediately brough himself on to replace Benn, and was rewarded with the edge of Imrul Kayes’ bat in the fourth over. 16 for 2 soon became 25 for 3 as Mushfiqur Rahim, promoted up the order failed to trouble the scorers, chipping a full length delivery from Sammy to the waiting arms of the fielder at short midwicket.
Kemar Roach then bowled a brilliant yorker to trap Siddique in front of the stumps for 25 and Bangladesh lost their top scorer with the score at 36. Skipper Shakib failed to rescue the innings for once, and was beaten by the flight by the returning Sulieman Benn, as Sammy once again got his bowling changes perfect. West Indies sensed a chance to wrap up the innings as Sammy reduced Bangladesh to 51/6 getting Raqibul Hassan brilliant caught at backward point by Kieron Pollard. Sulieman Benn ran through the tail, while Kemar Roach came back to remove the last recognized batsman, Mohammad Ashraful for 11.
A score as low as 58 was never going to be competitive, especially with the dangerous Chris Gayle showing a welcome return to form. Bangladesh picked up the wicket of Devon Smith (6) when the score was 29, but didn’t pose any further threat as West Indies cruised to victory with Gayle remaining unbeaten on 37 from 36 balls.
Kemar Roach was named Man of the Match for his devastating spell and beginning the West Indian assault as early as the opening over. West Indies will be mightily relieved after securing today’s points comfortably and though they do have another tricky opponent to look forward to in form of Ireland. They will take immense confidence from their win today and believe that they can make it three from three against the minnows and confirm a spot in the quarter-finals at Mohali next Friday.
Bangladesh would be very disappointed with today’s effort and will now need to pull off a win against either South Africa or England to dream of a quarter-final berth. They too are in action next Friday when England come calling at Chittagong.
Teams:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Ashraful, Naeem Islam, Shafiul Islam, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain.
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Darren Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieron Pollard, Devon Thomas (wk), Darren Sammy (c), Sulieman Benn, Nikita Miller, Kemar Roach.
Mini Scorecard
Bangladesh 58 all out in 18.5 overs (3.07 runs per over)
J Siddique 25(27) S Benn 4-18
M Ashraful 11(21) K Roach 3-19
West Indies 59/1 in 12.2 overs (4.78 runs per over)
C Gayle 37*(36) N Islam 1-12
D Bravo 9*(26)
West Indies won by 9 wickets with 37.4 overs remaining
