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T20 World Cup | West Indies defeat Bangladesh in contest of mediocrity to live another day

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What was going on its way to becoming the poorest game in terms of mediocre performances by both sides turned to be the most closely fought game of the tournament so far and in the end, West Indies finished just a notch above Bangladesh by the barest of margin of 3 runs.

Chasing a total of 143 runs which was always a par and fight score on that Sharjah pitch and the out of form batting lineup of Bangladesh ensured that the men in maroon finally got off the mark in the tournament.

The game was also a witness to some remarkable and freakish developments and the injury to Shakib Al Hasan was one of the most impactful developments for Bangladesh. 

However, Bangladesh tried to find a blessing in disguise and tried to solve two miseries with one pill and promoted him up the order to make the best use of the powerplay and to cover up for his limitations due to injury and hide the out of form top-order batsmen.

The move did not work though and as he could neither get going nor provide them with the sold start expected of him and the Bangladesh side had yet another wobbly start. His partner Mohammad Naim was once again struggling for touch and could not provide any momentum with the bat.

Liton Das, who is on the brink of losing his place from the playing XI steadied the ship along with Soumya Sarkar, who looked primed to get off the rut he has been so far in the tournament.

Liton first stitched a 31-run partnership with Sarkar and then stitched another partnership with Mushfiqur Rahim. But, none of them could take the attack to the opposition and it meant the Windies were right back in the game as soon there took the wickets of Sarkar and Mushfiqur.

After Mushfiqur’s departure, the onus of taking Bangladesh home fell on the shoulders of skipper Mahmudullah. However, he could not get going straight away but found two boundaries in the next two overs to keep themselves in the race.

With 22 needing off the final 12 balls, Mahmudullah found a six off the very first ball of Bravo. The experienced bowler though made an impressive comeback and maintained a stiff equation of 13 runs from the last seven balls and then picked up the wicket of a well-set Liton on the final ball to shift the equilibrium towards the Windies.

West Indies competed strongly with abysmally in the field in the final over and misfielded balls one after another to match their opponent, who dropped as many as three catches in the field. However, Andre Russell held on to his nerves and found a brilliant yorker on the final ball to deny them any boundary.

Earlier, Bangladesh had won the toss and sent Windies in to bat first. The defending champions made expected changes in their side in the game they desperately needed to win to stay alive in the tournament.

To their liability though, none of Chris Gayle, who was promoted back to the top and the man in form Evin Lewis could get going, and Windies found themselves in a precarious situation all over again.

However, they were not without a stabiliser in the middle with the bat and Roston Chase did the job of holding the innings together brilliantly.

Wickets and chaotic situations such as the voluntarily retired hurt of Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell’s run out while backing up at the non-striker end never allowed the Windies to launch an offensive against Bangladesh spinners.

It was all pale for the men in maroon but only till Nicholas Pooran did not arrive at the crease. He was due for a substantial innings and he came out all guns blazing with sixes one after another against Bangladesh’s star spinner Shakib Al Hasan.

His audacity and sumptuous timing with the bat helped Windies to stay on course and whatever the job was left to take them to a respectable total, was completed by Jason Holder without making any fuss about it.

It was a game of sheer mediocrity and hence in a most fitting finish, the game ended up with an over where all of the loose display of cricket was displayed on full-on mode.

West Indies survived to live another day in the tournament while Bangladesh have been all but knocked out of the tournament as other teams in their groups are looking sharper than them and there is slim chances of their rise to the top four of the tournament.

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