Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shoriful Islam’s fierce bowling helped Bangladesh defeat West Indies in the first ODI here at Providence Stadium.
Emerging spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz was the hero for Bangladesh with a brilliant spell that netted 3/36 and the 24-year-old was adjudged as the Player of the Match.
Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal won the toss and was elected to bowl.
Chasing the target of 150 runs, Bangladesh also did not have a good start. Liton Das could only score one run. After this Tamim Iqbal and Najmul Hossain added 48 runs for the second wicket. Tamim was run out after scoring 33 runs off 25 balls. Hits 4 fours and a six.
Najmul and Mahmudullah added 49 runs for the third wicket to take the score to 100. Najmul was dismissed after scoring 37 runs off 46 balls. Afif Hossain scored 9 runs. Mahmudullah returned unbeaten on 41 off 69 balls. Hits 2 fours and a six. While Nurul Hasan remained unbeaten on 20 off 27 balls. Hit a four and a six.
That was never going to be enough, with skipper Iqbal (33) getting the visitors off to a fast start and Mahmudullah (41) using all his experience to ensure Bangladesh drew first blood in the three-match ODI series.
Earlier, West Indies failed to shine after being sent into bat first in Providence, with three of their top six batters unable to reach double figures.
West Indies did not have a good start and the team lost 5 wickets at 74. Shemrah Brooks, who came to the crease at number-3, scored the highest 33 runs. Captain Nicosal Pooran scored 18 runs.
The Men in Maroon lost 9 wickets on 110 runs on board. After this, Anderson Phillip and Jayden Seals added an unbeaten 39 runs for the final wicket to bring the score close to 150 runs. Philip scored an unbeaten 21 off 22 balls.
Off-spinner Mehdi Hasan Miraj took 3 wickets for 36 runs in 9 overs. On the other hand, left-arm fast bowler Shoriful Islam scalped 4 wickets for 34 runs in 8 overs.
No.3 Shamarh Brooks top-scored for West Indies with an overly cautious 33 and their total may have been even less if not for an unbeaten final-wicket stand of 39 between Anderson Phillip (21) and Jayden Seales (16*) at the end of their innings.
