Windies rout Bangladesh in World T20
Dwayne Smith smashed 72 off 43 balls before spinner Samuel Badree claimed 4-15 as the West Indies thrashed hosts Bangladesh by 73 runs in a Twenty20 World Cup match in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The defending champions, who needed a win to stay in contention for the semi-finals after losing to India on Sunday, piled up 7-171 and then bowled Bangladesh out for 98 in the Super-10 group two match.
Chris Gayle hit a run-a-ball 48 in an impressive batting display by the West Indies after the hosts won the toss and elected to field before a sell-out crowd of 25,000 at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy said he was happy to see the team bounce back after the loss to India.
“This was a much better game for us,” he said.
“Chris and Smith batted well and then bowlers bowled fantastically well.”
Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, already under fire from the local media for the loss to minnows Hong Kong in the first round, rued another bad day in the field for his team.
“Today was another disappointing effort starting with our fielding, because we gave away a lot of cheap runs,” he said.
Bangladesh, playing their first match in the Super-10s after qualifying along with the Netherlands from the first round, faltered against pace and spin in the one-sided contest.
Left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie claimed two wickets off successive balls, including the vital one of Shakib Al Hasan, to reduce Bangladesh to 16-3 by the fourth over.
Badree, who had begun the slide by removing opener Tamim Iqbal for five, sliced through the middle order with three wickets in his final over, the 11 of the innings.
Rahim top-scored with 22 and tailender Mashrafe Mortaza made 19, but six batsmen failed to enter double figures in a poor batting display by the home team.
Smith dominated an opening stand of 97 by slamming 10 boundaries and three sixes, outscoring the unusually dour Gayle, whose contribution in the partnership was 19.
The West Indies went on to plunder 44 runs from the 17th to the 19th overs to move to 3-167, before losing four wickets in the final over bowled by seamer Al Amin Hossain.
India, Pakistan and Australia are the other teams in the group, from which two will advance to the semi-finals.