Shamim Hossain played a crucial role with the bat as he provided late resistance with a blistering unbeaten knock 35 off 17 balls, including two fours and two sixes and his 41-run stand with Tanzim Hasan Sakib, who remained unbeaten on 9, lifted Bangladesh to a competitive total after Bangladesh faced challenges against a spin-heavy West Indies attack.
Shamim Hossain, who also played well in the opening T20Is by making 27 runs on his comeback game after a year, insisted that he was not worried while passing his time in wilderness as he always felt that he would return sooner than later. Bangladesh were stretched to their total by Shamim Hossain’s late blast, hitting an unbeaten 35 off 17 balls. The bowlers responded superbly thereafter, with Taskin Ahmed taking three wickets while Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Tanzim Hasan all taking two each.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : 61m and 63m square boundaries, 73m straight hit. All six teams batting first have won. We had green grass in the first game but today the grass has been rolled and it has a nice brown tinge reckons Nikhil Uttamchandani and Carlos Brathwaite.
Toss : West Indies skipper Rovman Powell won the toss and chose to field with no changes in the playing XI. Bangladesh skipper Litton Das batting first made one change in the playing XI bringing in Mehidy Hasan Miraz for Afif Hossain
Shamim Hossain’s late cameo blitz powers Bangladesh to 129 for 7 after 20 overs
Batting first Litton Das’ poor form continued as he was stumped by Andre Fletcher off Akeal. Roston Chase and Akeal operated in a spin-bowling partnership of five overs which alongside the wicket of Litton saw Tanzid Hasan bowled by Chase. Mehidy began a counter-attack against the spin twins with two fours and a six before he nailed a pull straight to the hands of deep backward square leg.
Motie then got into the Bangladesh middle order, cleaning up both Rishad and Mahedi by the 15th over. Jaker Ali tried to resurrect the innings somewhat, with his 20-ball 21, but when he fell in the 17th over with the score 88 for 7, there were chances that the visitors could be bowled out for under 100.
Shamim Hossain , however, had the final say in the death overs, hitting a couple of sixes and as many fours. Both his sixes came off the local boy Obed McCoy, hitting him over fine leg and midwicket. Shamim Hossain ensured Bangladesh finished on a score just above 120, which was considered to be par for the course given the type of pitch.
Taskin Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan bowls Bangladesh to series win vs WI with 1 match to go
West Indies came out playing their shots in the run chase as they raced away to 19 for 0 in the first two overs. Johnson Charles laid into Mahedi Hasan for a six and a four. But the bowling change to bring in Taskin Ahmed reaped rewards immediately as he scalped Brandon King and Andre Fletcher in an over.
Taskin Ahmed provided the first breakthrough in the third over when he had Brandon King caught behind for 8, with a beautiful delivery outside off. Four balls later, Taskin had Andre Fletcher caught behind too, for his second consecutive duck in the series. This one was wider but Fletcher got beaten by pace, under-edging to wicketkeeper Litton Das.
Mahedi, who took career-best figures of 4 for 13 in the first T20I, then got into the act. He trapped Johnson Charles lbw in the fourth over, as the hosts slipped to 28 for 3. In his next over, Mahedi got Nicholas Pooran caught at slip where Soumya Sarkar didn’t have to move as Pooran’s probe at a length ball took the outer edge went to him softly.
Charles fell in the next over to Mahedi, given out LBW, which looked to be going down the legside but was umpire’s call on hitting the stumps. The offspinner then bowled a wicket-maiden in his third over which resulted in the dismissal of Nicholas Pooran as he edged one to slip.
Rovman Powell and Romario Shepherd too couldn’t come up with a rescue act as the former fell to another leading edge, this time finding the safe hands of Mehidy at point. Shepherd, on the other hand, was rushed into a pull which was taken by slip. Roston Chase and Akeal Hossein put on a 47-run stand during which the former smashed Hasan Mahmud for a 16-run over.
Just when the hosts were coming back into the game, Rishad Hossain delivered the knockout punch as he castled Chase before Gudakesh Motie holed out to long-on off the next ball. Tanzim Hasan and Taskin Ahmed then picked up the final two wickets to seal the series win.
Bangladesh might have felt Rovman Powell as a major threat after his exploits in the first match, nearly taking the hosts over the line. Powell, however, fell cheaply this time, when Mehidy Hasan Miraz took a diving catch in front of point, off Hasan Mahmud. When Tanzim Hasan had Romario Shepherd glove to slip off a short ball, West Indies were 42 for 6 and there was almost no coming back from there.
Roston Chase was their only remaining specialist batter after that. He batted conservatively until the 16th over when he slammed Mahmud for consecutive sixes. Akeal Hossein gave Chase good support at the other end, also hitting Rishad for a straight six, but the asking rate was still nearly 12 an over in the death overs.
The three sixes gave West Indies some hope but Rishad fought back in the same over to remove Chase, who missed a big slog. The young leg spinner removed Gudakesh Motie next ball when the left-hand batter holed out to long-off. Alzarri Joseph then handed a return catch to Tanzim in the following over before Hossein clipped a slower delivery from Taskin straight to backward point as Bangladesh started their celebrations.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Litton Das the winning Bangladesh skipper said : I’m very happy, not only me but all the Bangladeshi people. We were looking at such a win. When I faced the first-ball I knew it was very difficult to bat on this pitch, thanks to Shamim, he batted really well. Credit goes to all the bowlers. When we take wickets, whoever come to the bowling they give us wickets. It’s all about a team effort. We are in the good flow at the moment and we have to come and play good cricket again.
Rovman Powell the losing West Indies skipper said : [on the toss call to bowl first] At the start we made the right decision. When we look at how we get out, we have to rectify that. We felt that it is a different pitch, in the past it was low and slow, now a little bit more grass cover, felt it will come on. Disappointing, as a batting group we have let down ourselves miserably in the last few series.
We have to reflect on things individually and then look at it collectively. The bowlers did well but as a batting group we have not come to the party and we are struggling to put in a complete game. It’s just a case of playing for the people of the Caribbean now more than ever. We have made some strides as a team in this format, these last few series have put us back, takes us back to the days when the past West Indies sides who struggled.
Shamim Hossain Player of the Match for his cameo innings said : I’m so very happy, after a long time I have been back in the national team, I’m happy. My role is a finisher in the team and my role is to hit the ball. Last few months I have worked hard.
Bangladesh defended their modest score of 129 to clinch the T20I series with a 2-0 lead, beating West Indies by 27 runs in the second game at the Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent. It was Bangladesh’s lowest total winning a game while batting first against West Indies. It was a combined effort from their quicks and spinners who took advantage of a pitch that offered a lot to the bowlers throughout the game.
Bangladesh were stretched to their total by Shamim Hossain’s late blast, hitting an unbeaten 35 off 17 balls. The bowlers responded superbly thereafter, with Taskin Ahmed taking three wickets while Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Tanzim Hasan all taking two each. Bangladesh’s only concern was Soumya Sarkar suffering a finger injury when he dropped a catch in the slips in the seventh over of the chase. Otherwise, Bangladesh were all over West Indies, having reduced them to 42 for 6 in the ninth over.
A professional bowling performance by Bangladesh saw them win the second T20I against the West Indies and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match series. Given the task of defending a low score of 130, all the bowlers barring Mehidy Hasan Miraz were amongst the wickets as they bowled out the hosts for a 27-run run win.
The West Indies top order was yet again dismantled cheaply as they were left reeling at for 42 for 6, forming a worrying trend of top order collapses for the hosts, who were also reduced to 62 for 7 in the first T20I as well.
Historic series win for Bangladesh. First time for them since 2018 against West Indies in this format. Their head coach – Phil Simmons is all smiles. Fittingly Taskin Ahmed it is who takes the last wicket. He was the one who started it off with two wickets in one over and that included a peach to get King. From there West Indies just lost wickets regularly and only Chase and Akeal Hossein resisted.
No support for the duo and Bangladesh kept their nerve when it threatened to get close to finish it off. A collective bowling performance but it was Taskin who was the pick with a three-fer. It was not an easy wicket as there was bounce for the pacers and spin for the spinners but West Indies lost too many wickets in the powerplay which has been an issue for them in recent times in this format.
And it has cost them this series after successive failures with the bat. Work for Sammy and Co. to do in the near future. But credit to Bangladesh who were superb with the ball and on the field tonight. Bangladesh as a side keep making big strides. This series win another feather in their cap. Not easy to beat West Indies in their own backyard in the shortest format of the game. The last game of the series is on the 20th of this month.