World Cup Group B, Mirpur: West Indies 59-1 (12.2 ovs) bt Bangladesh 58 (18.5 ovs) by nine wkts Scorecard Lacklustre Bangladesh beaten by Windies Co-hosts Bangladesh were bowled out for 58 - their lowest one-day total - as West Indies romped to a nine-wicket victory in the Group B game in Mirpur. Sulieman Benn took four wickets, with Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy claiming three apiece for the West Indies. Junaid Siddique (25) and Mohammad Ashraful (11) were the only Tigers batsmen to make double-figures. Chris Gayle hit his 8,000th one-day run as the West Indies reached their target for the loss of opener Devon Smith. The result makes it two successive victories for the West Indies following their opening game loss to South Africa, giving them momentum ahead of upcoming games against Ireland and England. "I think this win will take us to the quarter-final but we still can't relax as we have couple of crucial games coming up," said Gayle.  | LOWEST WORLD CUP TOTALS CANADA 36 v Sri Lanka, 1983 CANADA 45 v England, 1979 NAMIBIA 45 v Australia, 2003 BANGLADESH 58 v West Indies, 2011 SCOTLAND 68 v West Indies, 1999 KENYA 69 v New Zealand, 2011 PAKISTAN 74 v England, 1992 IRELAND 77 v Sri Lanka, 2007 BERMUDA 78 v Sri Lanka, 2007 NAMIBIA 84 v Pakistan, 2003 |
The defeat is a crushing blow to co-hosts Bangladesh, who would have seen this game as a clear opportunity to muscle their way into a possible quarter-final spot and now face what could be a crucial match with England on 11 March. "I don't know [what went wrong]," said Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan. "We have a lot of things to work on now. We have to sit down and think about it. "Hopefully we'll come back strongly as there are three more games. If we want to qualify for the second round, we have to win two out of three. It is still very much possible." There was no shame for the Tigers in losing their opening game to India, and they salvaged some pride by following this with a victory, albeit unconvincing, over Ireland - but they capitulated here in front of a large but increasingly disconsolate home support. Bangladesh have largely themselves to blame for this, for while the West Indies' utilised a good line to capitalise on movement from the pitch, the majority of the Tigers' wickets, particularly from their recognised batsmen, were down to poor shot selection rather than outstanding bowling. "We never thought we'd bat this poorly because we've been playing really good cricket for last the 12 months and we've been consistent with the bat," admitted Shakib. The tone was set three balls into Roach's first over when danger-man Tamim Iqbal flashed at an angled delivery but succeeded only in edging to Sammy at slip. After an ineffective opening over of spin from Benn - taken for nine runs - West Indies captain Sammy brought himself into the attack, with near immediate effect.  Gayle scored his 8000th one-day run during the West Indies chase |
His third ball was short and straight, catching a faint edge from an unsure Imral Kayes poke to give wicket-keeper Devon Thomas a simple catch and then, with the first ball of his next over, Mushfiqur Rahim provided a low catch for Ramnaresh Sarwan at short midwicket. Siddique had offered brief resistance - amassing an efficient 25 - but not even a review could save him when a straight yorker from Roach wrapped him on the pads, bang in front of the stumps. That this innings was the highlight for Bangladesh speaks volumes for their performance. Ashraful (11) would be the only other Bangladeshi batsman to make double figures as the trio of Sammy, Roach and Benn tore through the order with ease. Benn bowled Shakib to claim his first wicket, and his side's fifth, before Raqibul Hasan was caught at point off Sammy to leave Bangladesh battling just to salvage respectability with only 15 overs gone. It was a mission that was beyond them as Benn claimed three of the final four wickets - including Ashraful - to dismiss the home side for the lowest total of this World Cup so far and the fourth-lowest in the tournament's history. "The wicket seemed to be doing a bit, I mean for the spinners, but Kemar Roach did a brilliant job," added Gayle. "In fact, all our players stepped up." Unsurprisingly, Gayle provided the majority of the runs as the West Indies successfully chased their target in the 12th over. The Jamaican struck 37 - including his 8,000th one-day run - in a run-chase tarnished only by Smith being bowled by Naeem Islam for six.
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