Bangladesh chases 322 to beat West Indies
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, Taunton, Somerset.
West Indies 321-8 (50 ov), Hope 96 off 121, 4 fours, 2 sixes, Lewis 70 off 67, 6 fours, 2 sixes, Hetmyer 50 odd 26, 4 fours, 3 sixes, Saifuddin 3-72, Mustafizur 3-59, Shakib 2-54.
Bangladesh 322-3 (41.3 ov) Shakib 124* off 99, 16 fours, Das 94* off 69, 8 fours, 4 sixes, Tamim 48 off 53, 6 fours, Russell 1-42, Thomas 1-52
Bangladesh won by seven wickets
Shakib Al Hasan’s unbeaten 124 with help from Das 94 not out pulled of th second highest chase in World Cup history with a dominant seven-wicket win over West Indies at Taunton.
Chasing 322 for victory the Tigers made rapid start but lost two quick wickets to leave the game finely poised at 133-3 off 19 overs. Shakib thrashed the West Indies one-pace attack, reaching his second successive century of the tournament off 83 balls.
He put on 189 run with Liton Das who is making his World Cup debut sensationally accelerated hitting Shannon Gabriel for three consecutive sixes and scored 94 not out off 69 balls, to take Bangladesh pass their target with 51 balls to spare.
Earlier West Indies’ 321-8 was thanks to Shai Hope’s 96, Evin Lewis’ 70 and brutal 26-ball 50 from Shimron Hetmyer.
With this victory Bangladesh who have won five one-day internationals in a row against West Indies climb up to fifth in the table and maintains their chances of reaching the semi-finals.
Jason Holder’s side will have to win their four remaining games, including tough matches against India and New Zealand, to stand any chance.
Although West Indies’ fast bowlers dismantled top-order batsmen, their effectiveness disappeared as 55 per cent of all deliveries were short with Bangladesh playing that length with ease and were punishd by Shakib who hit exquisite drives down the ground and brought his ninth ODI hundred with a cover drive. Das also capitalised knocking it around to reach 50 off 43 balls before hitting another 44 runs off 26 deliveries as Bangladesh achieved victory in front their fans.
They beat their own mark in passing 319 against Scotland in 2015, behind only Ireland’s successful chase of 328 against England in 2011.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said “ We have a chance to go through but we have to win all of our matches. Shakib has made it in this World Cup. In every match he’s doing something exceptional and let’s hope it continues”.
West Indies captain Jason Holder said “ We were probably 40-50 runs short. The wicket played really well but we could have been more disciplined with the ball and we let ourselves down in the field as well”.