Bangabandhu ODI Series
Bangladesh VS West Indies
3rd Match Played at SBNCS on 25 January 2020
Brief Scorecard
Bangladesh 297/6 in 33.2 Overs (Mahmudullah Riad 64*, Mushfiqur Rahim 64, Tamim Iqbal 64, Shakib Al Hasan 51, Nazmul Hossain Shanto 20, Aljari Josef 2/48, Nkrumah Booner 31, Raymon Reifer 2/61) Beat West Indies 177 All Out in 44.2 Overs (Rovman Powell 47, Raymon Reifer 27, Mohammad Saifuddin 3/51, Mehedy Miraj 2/ 18, Mustafizur Rahman 2/24, ) by 120 Runs
Player of the Match: Mushfiqur Rahim
Player Of The Series: Shakibul Hasan.
As expected, Bangladesh achieved a comprehensive ODI series whitewash which many terms as Bangladesh winning all three ODIs on the trot against understrength West Indies.
Bangladesh cakewalked third match yesterday at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) Chattogram winning by 120 Runs. Four Champion Batsmen, Mahmudullah Riad (64*), Tamim Iqbal (64) , Mushfiqur Rahim (64) and Shakib Al Hasn (51) scored half centuries as Bangladesh put to bat scored 297/6. West Indies could respond getting all out 177 in 44.2 Overs. Bangladesh achieving 30 ICC ODI Championship league points consolidated its position in ICC Ranking brightening its chances of playing directly in the 2023 ICC World Cup In India. The possibility of Banglawash was always in the card as West Indies lower than Bangladesh in ODI ranking sent a below strength team for the series to Bangladesh. Almost the entire group of players of the first choice team skipped the tour for the excuse of Corona pandemic or personal reasons. Bangladesh also won consecutive ODI matches against full strength West Indies in bilateral series and World Cup.
The wicket of ZACS was flatter and weather was brighter and sunny. Bangladesh getting the opportunity of batting first made merry. Four champion batsmen Tamim (64), Mahmudullah (64*) and Mushfique ( 64) making same score rewrote the page of ODI history being the first doing that. Sachin Tendulkar, Sanjay Manjrelar and Monoj Probhakar all scoring 36 against New Zealand in 1991 in Wellington jointly held the previous record. Australian batsmen Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh and Darren Lehman also scored 36 each against Zimbabwe in Sydney in 1991. Shakib Al Hasan also scored 51 being the fourth batsman scoring half century in the same match.
Both the team made two changes each in the match. Bangladesh rested Rubel Hossain and Hasan Mahmud replacing them with Mohammad Saifuddin and Taskin Ahmed. West Indies gave wicket keeper batsman Jahmar Hamilton and fast bowler Keon Harding ODI debut. Saifuddin and Taskin on their return looked impressive.
The superiority of strong Bangladesh was never in doubt throughout the series. Bangladesh batted, bowled and fielded as expected. However, the only worry was that the experiment of playing Nazmul Hossain Shanto pushing proven champion Shakib to number three did not achieve success. It could not be gathered what Bangladesh achieved not letting Soumya Sarkar batting in the top order. Can Bangladesh risk playing Shanto at number three against very strong New Zealand in New Zealand as Shakib will not be available for the tour. What was the batting order of impressive Bangladesh in ICC World Cup 2015 in Australia New Zealand? Where did Soumya and Mahmudullah bat? Did not Mahmudullah score two back-to-back centuries against stronger opposition batting in the top order? Bangladesh also lost an opportunity for trying Shoriful and Sheikh Mahedy yesterday . Mahmudullah playing an aggressive innings of 64* not out also proved the decision of the selectors ignoring him for the test wrong. He is still among the top four batsman of Bangladesh in all formats.
West Indies performance did not improve much as Bangladesh getting the first opportunity to bat first literally toyed with their bowling. Excepting Liton and Shanto all the batsmen Tamim, Shakib, Mushfique and Mahmudullah played their natural fluent innings. Soumya getting the first opportunity was run out. Shanto was looking good but could not stay long. Tamim played his usual composed sheet anchor role. Shakib getting a reprieve in the very first ball scored 51. Mushfique and Mahmudullah did the acceleration 72 runs in the 5th wicket partnership. Mahmudullah struck 3 fours and 3 sixes in his unbeaten 64 runs innings proved that he still has the hunger for runs. Hope selectors would review their decision and include him in the test squad.
298 was always an unassailable target for West Indies. They could not survive against much better quality Bangladesh attack. Mustafiz (2/24) moved the ball viciously both ways at pace making life of Caribbean batsmen difficult. Saifuddin (3/51) looked a bit rusty on his return. Taskin bowled at pace. Mehedy bowled impressively yet again. Shakib limped out after bowling 4.5 overs. Hope he will be OK for the test series. West Indies had no answer to Bangladesh quality attack. Only Rovan Powel (47) could provide some resistance. West Indies suffering series whitewash was the writing on the wall. However, Bangladesh earning 30 championship points made a strong statement.
Hope selectors would do some soul searching about failed experiment with batting order. Shakib would have performed the same what he did batting at any position. But Bangladesh did not do justice either to Shanto or Soumya. They will now struggle finding a capable number three especially in New Zealand where Shakib will be unavailable.
Well done team tigers. Hope this series win would give them a boost for the test series which would present a different challenge.
BDST: 1151 HRS, JAN 26, 2021
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