Spinners shine as Bangladesh clinch West Indies series in style

Jul 14, 2022

Spinners shine as Bangladesh clinch West Indies series in style Image

Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nasum Ahmed, two spinners, combined for seven wickets as Bangladesh easily defeated the West Indies to win the series in Guyana. 

Bangladesh easily defeated the West Indies in the last One-Day International of the series, earning them their largest victory away from home. 

With one game remaining, the visitors had an unstoppable 2-0 lead because to their clinical nine-wicket victory. Bangladesh has now prevailed in six of their previous seven international ODI series. 

Although Bangladesh has had a very difficult year, their performance in 50-over cricket has been fairly good as they have already won three straight series.

Bangladesh recently defeated South Africa and Afghanistan in series, demonstrating that they believe they can win against any team in 50-over cricket. Their current performance against the West Indies only serves to support this claim. 

White-ball 50-over contests allow Bangladesh's talented spinners a chance to flourish, and during Wednesday's thrashing nine-wicket victory over West Indies, it was once again their slower bowlers who shone out. 

While renowned spinner Shakib Al Hasan was absent, Mehidy Hasan Miraz (4/29) and Nasum Ahmed (3/19) combined for seven wickets in Guyana to guarantee that West Indies, who were put in to bat by Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal, could only generate a meagre score of 108.

The visitors gained the upper hand after Nasum dismissed Shamarh Brooks, Shai Hope, and then picked up the crucial wicket of Nicholas Pooran as the hosts fell to 45/4 after 18 overs. Pacer Mosaddek Hossain (1/37) had made the initial breakthrough. 

A lacklustre West Indies team had no chance of reversing the situation when Mehidy quickly eliminated the remaining batsmen, leaving Bangladesh needing just 109 runs to win. 

Tamim led from the front in the response, scoring a brilliant half-century that helped Bangladesh coast home with more than 29 overs to spare, ensuring that the victory target was never in doubt.

Najmul Hossain Shanto was caught for 20 by Gudakesh Motie (1/39) to give West Indies their lone wicket, but Tamim and veteran batsman Liton Das (32 not out) led the run chase to victory. 

This series victory was precisely what Bangladesh needed to give them some confidence ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup later this year after underwhelming performances throughout the Test and T20 portions of the tour. 

Brief scores: West Indies108 in 35 overs (Keemo Paul 25 not out; Mehidy Hasan 4-29, Nasum Ahmed 3-19) lost to Bangladesh 112/1 in 20.4 overs (Tamim Iqbal 50 not out, Liton Das 32 not out) by 9 wickets.