Dominant West Indies Crush Bangladesh

Dhaka - Bangladesh batsmen posed no challenge to the West Indies attack as the defending champions thrashed hosts by 73 runs to keep their semifinals hope alive at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday.

Chasing 172-run target, Bangladesh were bundled out for just 98 by a ferocious West Indies attack. Samuel Badree finished with a brilliant figure of 4/15 while Krishmar Santokie takes three.

Earlier, opener Dwayne Smith smashed a quickfire 72 as West Indies produced an improved batting show, to post a challenging 171 for seven.

Smith whirlwind knock came off just 43 balls that helped in consolidating the West Indies total which could have been much more had Chris Gayle been able to play his natural attacking game as he huffed and puffed en route his run-a-ball 48 that had three fours and two sixes.

Bangaldesh's inconsistent effort on the outfield also contributed to West Indies' cause.

One end, there was Tamim Iqbal, who took a few stunners, some of the other fielders conceded at least 15 runs at the ropes.

Seamer Al-Amin Hossain was the most successful Bangladeshi bowler grabbing three wickets for 21 while Zia-ur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudallah Riyadh got a wicket each.

Al-Amin in fact bagged all his three scalps in the last over in which the Caribbeans lost four wickets scoring only four runs.

Gayle was again not in his element as his stay at the crease was an absolute struggle. Since his game is based on minimul footwork, he was finding it difficult to come to the pitch of the deliveries bowled by Bangladeshi spinners. In his first 30 runs, the only six he hit was a lofted shot over long-on.

His second six was the one that took him from 36 to 42 as he hit Shakib over long-on. But he was finally out for a run-a-ball 48 when he tried to hoist seamer Zia-ur Rahman over long-off but Tamim Iqbal took a well-judged catch at the ropes.

Smith, on the other hand, shrugged off the rustiness that affected his game against India as he looked in control against the spinners, especially off-spinner Sohag Gazi, who was brought in for his good record against Chris Gayle.

While Gazi was able to keep Gayle quiet, Smith took off from the other end as he looked in complete control. He played the slog sweep and the reverse sweep to good effect against Gazi. He also muscled a lot of deliveries through the vacant mid-wicket region. In the 10th over of the innings, he hit Gazi for four consecutive boundaries. He reached his 50 off 33 balls.

The three sixes Smith hit were all in the region between deep square leg and deep mid-wicket. The first was a flat batted shot over square leg off pacer Al-Amin while the next couple was hit off leggie Sabbir Ahmed and offie Mahmudullah. He was finally caught by a fumbling Al-Amin when Smith went for yet another slog sweep.

His innings had 10 fours and three sixes. The opening partnership was a productive one of 97 runs but Gayle could be safely termed as a silent partner in that stand. His contribution was only 19.

Lendl Simons (0) was out first ball as Shakib fired one down leg-side. Simons was unable to keep his balance and dragged his backfoot out of the crease as Mushfiqur Rahim completed a smart stumping.

Earlier, Bangladesh have won the toss and have opted to field.

Nasir Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Farhad Reza and Rubel Hossain did not feature in the Bangladesh eleven. West Indies went in with an unchanged line-up.

Teams:

Bangladesh - Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (Capt. & wk), Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Ziaur Rahman, Sohag Gazi, Mashrafe Mortaza, Al-Amin Hossain

West Indies - Dwayne Smith, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy (Capt.), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Samuel Badree, Krishmar Santokie

Brief scores
West Indies - 171/7 (Smith 72, Gayle 48, Al-Amin Hossain 3-21)
Bangladesh - 98 (Badree 4-15, Santokie 3-17)
Result - West Indies won by 73 runs
Points - West Indies 2, Bangladesh 0
MOM - Dwayne Smith (West Indies)