Tigers suffered yet another humiliating series defeat this year after West Indies whitewashed the touring party on Monday by winning the third and final ODI by 91 runs courtesy of a brilliant 169 runs knock from wicket-keeper batsman Denesh Ramdin. Both sides will meet again today for the lone T20I which can be a morale booster for the visiting side if they can manage to play to their potential although such an unexpectedly helpless surrender in the ODI series hardly bodes well for the visitors before today’s match.
West Indies skipper Dwayne Bravo won the toss and elected to bat on a rather batting friendly pitch at the Warner Park and despite losing both openers - Chris Gayle and Lendl Simmons inside the first five overs, the home side managed to post a huge total of 338/7. Darren Bravo and Ramdin then led the recovery in style for the batting side as the pair added 258 runs for the third wicket which ultimately became the highest aggregate of runs for third wicket for West Indies in ODIs.
Bangladesh were left to rue the missed chances offered by both Ramdin and Bravo as skipper Mushfiqur Rahim failed to stump Bravo off Razzak when he was on 10 while Ramdin was also lucky on 35 when Razzak couldn’t reach close enough to the skier at mid-on.
After that it was a devastating period for the Bangladeshi bowlers as Ramdin smashed the bowlers all over the park with 11 sixes and eight fours for his 121 ball 169 runs. Bravo played his part too, scoring 124 off 127 deliveries with seven boundaries and 8 sixes.
It looked like another catastrophe was on the card before Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiq rescued the Tigers’ innings by adding 99 for the third wicket after they were struggling at 2-2 after just 2 overs of their mammoth run chase. Tamim hit 9 boundaries in his 62 ball 55 and this should serve as a massive confidence booster for the visitors as it was the southpaw’s first half-century after nine months. Tigers would hope this is just the beginning of a good run for him before today’s T20I and the two Tests.
However, Mushfiq’s departure in the 37th over for 72 runs again initiated a collapse for the visitors from which they couldn’t recover. Mushfiq, who promoted himself at the number four position where Mominul was supposed to play, hit 8 boundaries in a rather sedate innings off 113 deliveries. Mominul, who replaced Shamsur Rahman in the XI, couldn’t do much as he was out for just 5 while Mahmudullah and Nasir perished trying to fulfill the demand of the situation because of an ever increasing run-rate.
However, Bangladesh will be desperately hoping for a better display in the only T20I of the tour today. They would also feel like a little help of luck could do them a huge favor as their only two T20 wins this year came against Afghanistan and Nepal, none a Test playing nation. Therefore, the Tigers again face an uphill task to break out of the shell of defeats against a home team which has just gone from strength to strength as the ODI series progressed. It will also be a test of the players’ mental state as to how they approach today’s match and bounce back after those counseling sessions by psychologist.
