Heartbreak in a World Cup for Bangladesh again as Windies win by 3 runs
Andre Russell's sensational last over denied Bangladesh a win. They required 13 off the final over but Russell bowled three pinpoint yorkers and Mahmudullah couldn’t finish the game for Bangladesh.
West Indies knocked Bangladesh out of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup. After back-to-back disappointing losses, the Caribbeans redeemed themselves and beat Bangladesh by three runs in a humdinger of a match. With this win, West Indies kept their hopes of making it to the semifinals of the competition alive.
Andre Russell's sensational last over denied Bangladesh a win. They required 13 off the final over but Russell bowled three pinpoint yorkers and Mahmudullah couldn't finish the game for Bangladesh.
While chasing a challenging target of 143 on a sluggish Sharjah pitch, Bangladesh made a change to their opening combination as Shakib Al Hasan was sent to open the innings with Mohammad Naim. But none of them could quite settle down in the middle. Shakib was the first to go in the fifth over off Andre Russell's bowling. Naim followed him in the next over and his departure left Bangladesh in a bit of trouble at 29 for two.
Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar tried to steady the ship after the initial stutters but the latter got out in the 11th over against the run of play. Akeal Hosein accounted for his wicket. These two added a run-a-ball 31.
Mushfiqur Rahim attempted a ramp over the keeper's head off Ravi Rampaul but was done for the lack of pace. When he got out, Bangladesh needed 53 more to win off 39 balls with six wickets in hand.
Liton and Mahmudullah kept the scoreboard moving but DJ Bravo's superb 16th over put some pressure on Bangladesh. They needed 30 off the final three overs.
Liton Das was dismissed on 44 while trying to clear the straight boundary in the last ball of the penultimate over and Bangladesh required 13 off the final over. But Afif and Mahmudullah failed to hit a single boundary off Russell and fell short by a fine margin.
Earlier, Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah called it right at the toss and elected to field first, unlike the previous matches. The bowlers justified the decision by tying the West Indies down in the powerplay. The match-ups worked very well for the Tigers. Mustafizur Rahman got the first breakthrough in the third over by dismissing the in-form Evin Lewis. Off-spinner Mahedi Hasan cleaned up Chris Gayle on 4 off 10 balls in his second over. It was the fourth time Mahedi got the better of Gayle in T20s. West Indies were restricted to 29 for two in the powerplay.
Mahedi dropped Roston Chase in the seventh over but made up for the error by dismissing Shimron Hetmyer. Skipper Pollard promoted himself to number five but struggled big time to get himself going. Chase and Pollard added under a run-a-ball 30 before the latter walked off in the 14th over.
Andre Russell replaced Pollard in the middle but was very unfortunate as he got himself out of the crease when the ball off a Roston Chase straight drive came in contact with Taskin Ahmed's boots and hit the stumps at the non-striker's end. Ruseell went without facing a ball, leaving the West Indies reeling at 62 for four.
Nicholas Pooran came out with a positive mindset and seemed to be batting on a different pitch altogether. Pooran got going by smashing two sixes off Shakib Al Hasan in the 16th over. The southpaw provided the much-needed impetus to West Indies' innings by adding 57 off just 33 balls with Chase before both of them perished in consecutive deliveries off Shoriful Islam's bowling in the penultimate over. Pooran top-scored with 40 off 22. Chase, who got two reprieves, scored 39.
West Indies finished with a flourish as Jason Holder struck two sixes off Mustafizur in the final over and Pollard, who returned to bat after Chase's departure, hit a maximum in the last ball of the innings. Holder was dropped by Afif Hossain in the 19th over and that cost Bangladesh too many runs in the end. West Indies scored 58 off the last five overs and posted 142 for seven after 20 overs. Mahedi, Shoriful and Mustafizur took two wickets apiece but Mustafizur was a tad expensive.
Nicholas Pooran was adjudged the player of the match.