Daily Times

DHAKA: Bangladesh are primed to win this ODI series against West Indies with a game to spare and although Roston Chase laughed off the possibility at the pre-match press conference, it is undeniable that his team has had a torrid time all tour. It is no stretch to imagine that they might suffer another batting meltdown on Tuesday. Bangladesh have done excellently in all three departments over the past few weeks. In the first ODI, Mashrafe Mortaza and Mustafizur Rahman shared six wickets between them to keep West Indies to a below par 195. And while Rubel Hossain bowled two poor overs towards the end, it didn’t take the gloss out of a strong performance. Tamim Iqbal’s outstanding catch to remove Darren Bravo also ensured that, ultimately, not a lot needed to be discussed about the three dropped catches.

Bangladesh’s recovery from 42 for 2 was also encouraging. Mushfiqur Rahim let Liton Das and later Shakib Al Hasan play shots while he provided the anchor role. Soumya Sarkar also struck the ball well during his short stay, before Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah brought them victory quickly. However, runs — quick or slow — haven’t been forthcoming for West Indies. There were some encouraging signs in the practice one-dayer when they got a 300-plus total but they couldn’t deal with the lack of pace on the ball as Shakib and Mehidy Hasan bowled during the Powerplay, and then according to Chase, also had trouble against the pacers as the innings progressed.

With an attack that boasts two genuine fast bowlers and a bit of variety, West Indies must get a 240-plus total in Dhaka to seriously challenge the home side. Oshane Thomas and Kemar Roach can be a handful in any conditions but they need to be backed by runs.

In the spotlight: Mashrafe Mortaza became Player of the Match after two years, with his three-wicket haul boosting Bangladesh’s bowling in the first ODI. His combination of cutters and subtle seam movement continues to work for him in the last five years of his limited-overs career. Shimron Hetmyer had a blip in the first game but he has so far had a better Bangladesh tour than all of West Indies’ batsmen. They would expect him to produce another quickfire knock in the crucial encounter.

Team news: Mashrafe is nursing a hamstring injury and Bangladesh’s team management will be concerned by that, even as they experiment with four opening batsman, using Soumya Sarkar at No. 6. West Indies have batsmen Chandrapaul Hemraj and Sunil Ambris, allrounder Carlos Brathwaite and left-arm spinner Fabien Allen to choose from, if they are looking to shake up things for the second game.

Squads

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Liton Das, 3 Imrul Kayes, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Soumya Sarkar, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mehidy Hasan, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

West Indies (probable): 1 Kieran Powell, 2 Shai Hope (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Rovman Powell (capt), 8 Keemo Paul, 9 Devendra Bishoo, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Oshane Thomas.

Published in Daily Times, December 11^th 2018.