All-round Bangladesh sealed the three-match ODI series 2-0 against the second-string West Indies side.
Once again, the West Indies batsmen had no clue to the Bangladesh bowling line-up, dismissing for yet another score of below 150. Their batsmen just does not seem to find the solution to Bangladesh’s spin bowling, where they have lost 11 wickets out of forty.
The only West Indies batsmen who was able to cope with Bangladesh’s attack was right-hand Rovman Powell, who scored 28 and 41 across two games. He is currently the second-highest run-scorer in this Bangladesh-dominated ODI series with 69 runs.
The lack of first-choice players for West Indies such as Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Carlos Brathwaite really must have hurt the West Indies side. The Men in Maroon gave seven caps to debutants, with six coming in the first game. But the batsmen just couldn’t get out of their way. They simply failed to cope with the spin and played rash shots. Twice they have batted first in two ODI matches. How will they chase if they bat second in the final ODI is yet to be seen.
Meanwhile, the hosts are in comfortable position in the series. Their bowling, especially spinners, made the job much easier of their batsmen. Only two spinners were used so far; off-spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Mehedy Hasan. Together, the duo have picked 11 wickets between them. They are not even averaging 10 with the ball together.
Shakib had a great comeback to the series
As for their batsmen, their captain Tamim Iqbal leads the batting charts as he is the series’ highest run-scorer. He scored 44 and 50 in his tally of 94 runs across two games, averaging 47. In fact, Tamim is the only batsman in the Bangladesh’s side to score. The rest just could not get going. Fellow opener Liton Das gets start, but then gets dismissed. Najmul Hossain Shanto, who bats at no.3 this series, also could not find his feet.
If Bangladesh bats first in the final ODI, then the batsmen may tend to get some runs for themselves to gain confidence.
Shakib’s fine comeback in the series
Shakib Al Hasan, who was serving a two years ban for breaching ICC’s Code of Conduct, made his international return this series. And it was a sweet one for the left-arm all-rounder. Shakib starred in the first ODI with his figures 4-8 to dismantle West Indies for 122. He did bat, but managed only 19 runs from 43 balls in Bangladesh’s six wickets victory.
Then again in the second ODI, he picked the figures of 2-30 to help Bangladesh bowled the visitors of 148. When coming to bat, he scored an unbeaten 43 from 50 balls to help his side win the match by seven wickets. The all-rounder’s presence helped the Bangladesh to have that match-winner in the side. He is still among the top four allrounders across formats and Bangladesh needed his experience.
Shakib will once again be looking to perform big – Be it batting first or bowling first. Whatever it may be, his “hunger and desire” to perform for Bangladesh is second to none.
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