Daily Times

SYLHET: Shai Hope once again came up with a yet another superlative century but that was not enough to outclass the all-round Bangladesh side as the hosts trounced West Indies by eight wickets in the final One-day International at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium here on Friday to clinch the three-match series 2-1. Asked to bat, Hope (131-ball 108 not out) fought the lone battle to drag his team to 198 for 9 after off-spinner Mehidy Hasan (4 for 29) dismantled Windies batting-order. In reply, fifties from Tamim Iqbal (81) and Soumya Sarkar (80) led Bangladesh past Windies’ score with 11.3 overs to spare. The home team finished on 202 for 2 in 38.3 overs.

It didn’t take Bangladesh long to draw the first blood as Mehidy got rid of Chandrapaul Hemraj for just nine runs in the fourth over. Darren Bravo (10) and Marlon Samuels (19) stuck for a while but it was Hope, who single-handedly won Windies the second ODI, who did most of the scoring. Hope added 42 and 39 runs with Bravo and Samuels respectively but couldn’t convert it into something sizeable as the two failed to accompany him for too long. Both Bravo and Samuels were knocked over by Mehidy and Mohammad Saifuddin (1 for 38) respectively. Mehidy then removed Shimron Hetmyer (nought) and skipper Rovman Powell (1) in no time as Windies lost half of their side before they could touch the 100-run mark.

While wickets kept falling at the other end, Hope continued to play with the field and kept the scoreboard ticking. Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan (2 for 40) dismissed all-rounders Roston Chase (8) and Fabian Allen (6) as the visiting side were reduced to 143 for 7. Hope finally found some decent support from Keemo Paul (12) and ensured Windies bowlers had something to defend. Hope, who also smashed 10 fours in his innings, brought up his fourth ODI century with a maximum over long-off.

Bangladesh needed a decent start to bat Windes out of the game and they got one from Tamim and Liton Das. The two added 45 runs for the opening wicket and looked quite comfortable against the abortive Windies bowlers. Liton fell prey to Paul in the 11th over for 23 but the arrival of Sarkar brought more bad news for the touring side. While Tamim was slightly careful with his approach, Sarkar took apart Windies bowlers one by one and didn’t allow anyone to settle in. Sarkar especially went after the spinners and tonked them for five sixes. In the process, both the left-handers completed their half-centuries.

The 131-run stand finally came to an end in the 36th over when Paul knocked over Sarkar, but only after the 25-year-old smoked five fours and as many sixes during his stay in the middle. Coming in at No. 4, Mushfiqur Rahim (16 not out) took care of the pending work and propelled Bangladesh to a solid victory alongside Tamim, who hit nine fours in his innings. Having lost both the Test and ODI series, Windies will look to make amends in the three-match Twenty20 International series which will get underway from December 17.

Published in Daily Times, December 15^th 2018.