Kieron Pollard’s whirlwind batting blitz (85 runs with 8x6s and 5x4s off 74 balls), Kemar Roach’s menace (5 for 56) and Sunil Narine’s cunning (3 for 38) could not stop a fully charged-up Bangladesh team which held their nerves and registered a historic 3-2 win over West Indies in the five-match Sahara One Day Internationals series on Saturday.

Aided by undisciplined batting and erratic bowling performances by some key members of the much-hyped West Indies team; opposing skipper, Mushfiqur Rahim, voted Man-of-the-Series; astutely led and inspired his team with a classy 44 runs (56 balls, 7x4s) that played a pivotal role to stem the early mayhem wreaked by Roach’s hostility when, faced with 218 runs to win, found themselves in a quandary and serious meltdown at 30 for the loss of pugnacious opener Tamim Iqbal, second ODIs centurion Anamul Haque and Jahurul Islam.
Like a true leader, Rahim counterattacked with ferocity and fashioned a match-winning 91-run fourth-wicket partnership with his deputy Mahmudullah who top-scored with an entertaining 48 that was decorated with seven scintillating fours off 45 balls.
The Rahim/Mahmudullah tandem not only revived their team’s fortunes but also set the tempo for the lower order batsmen to rise to the occasion and lift their own game in their quest to reign supreme in the fifth and final match ODIs and series at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on Saturday.
Their heroic stand was probably the most decisive of the series as it took the momentum away from West Indies after Roach’s speed menace had silenced the exuberant crowd with three incisive strikes by removing dangerous attacking opener Tamim Iqbal (8), bowled with an express beauty that smacked the off-stump; 19-year-old Anamul Haque, magnificently caught by a diving Pollard at point position for zero and Jahurul Islam, caught by wicketkeeper Devon Thomas for 10.
At that point, the West Indians were in their glee and must have felt that they had the match wrapped up and were on their way to victory as happened in the preceding fourth ODIs the day before (Friday).
Over-confidence and a few tactical errors allowed both Rahim and Mahmudullah to feast unwarranted wayward short-pitch bowling that facilitated attacking strokeplay with less protection outside the inner circle.
Together they gradually swung the pendulum in favour of the home team and the jam-packed appreciative crowd celebrated every run, but more so the fourteen boundaries between Bangladesh’s most senior members who asserted themselves and shouldered the responsibly, an important lesson which the West Indian seniors fail to demonstrate in this decisive encounter.
However, there was still hope that West Indies could regain the upper hand when both Rahim and Mahmudullah departed in quick succession; succumbing to the guile of Narine who bowled Mahmudullah who backed away in an attempt to play an attacking stroke with the score at 121, and then outfoxed Rahim, who was forced into a hurried shot but only succeeded in guiding the ball unto the pitch and then to his consternation the stumps.
Those were two crucial blows and at 131 for 5 wickets, there was still hope for West Indies to pull off a sensational victory. But newcomer Mominul Haque in tandem with Nasir Mohammed showed no signs of nervousness and continued rearguard fight with equally dazzling strokes. They pounced on all the innocuous and wayward deliveries served up and soon rattled up 55 runs for the seventh wicket before Narine struck a vital blow by having Haque lbw for a well-played 25 (50b, 3x4s).
Nasir was joined by Bangladesh’s new spin sensation Sohag Gazi and they took delight to dispatch left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul for one six (seventh over) and two fours (eighth) with no protection (fielders) on the midwicket or the wide long on boundary.
Up to that stage, Permaul was most economical and conceded only 18 runs in his first six overs but Nasir and Gazi exploited the strange tactics employed with some aggressive strokeplay that hastened the victory with a 28-run seventh-wicket partnership before Roach returned to dislodge Gazi for 19 with a wicked lifter that grazed the bat’s outer edge through to wicketkeeper Thomas.
Roach claimed his fifth scalp when he surprisingly gained the umpire’s nod for an lbw decision against Abdur Razzak (0) although TV replay showed that the ball was pitched outside the line of the leg stump tramline.
Although he finished as WI top wicket-taker with 5 for 56, Roach was guilty of bowling too many short-pitched deliveries, like the ineffective Andre Russell; and the team paid the ultimate price.
There was minor mix-up for the winning run but the composed Bangladeshis rejoiced following their two-wicket victory with 36 balls to spare.
The sell-out 17 000-plus hometown supporters at the ground in Dhaka, the capital city of the 59 977 square mile country plus the 152 million and more citizens of Bangladesh would have shouted themselves hoarse and danced for joy after Nasir Mohammed confidently spanked Russell’s short rising delivery outside the off-stump beyond the backward point boundary for the winning runs.
Nasir Mohamed became their nation’s latest hero with an unbeaten 39 runs as it sparked wild celebrations ‘Bangla Gangnam Style’ dancing by his jubilant teammates after he sealed his team’s exciting but delayed victory over the crestfallen West Indies team; that comprised some of the game’s current celebrated one-day international stars.
The 21-year-old right-hander, who made his ODIs debut last year against Zimbabwe; was on a losing side when Zimbabwe romped home victorious by seven wickets. And although Bangladesh was in serious trouble at 58 for 6 when he entered the fray at the number eight position, Nasir made an instant impact and underlined his potential with a top score of 63.
On Friday last, Nasir was the epitome of composure as he provided solid support to newcomer Mominul Haque, who faced 50 balls and made in an invaluable 25 that included three fours. His contribution had greater significance to Bangladesh’s cricket history.
Nasir’s winning boundary eased all the tension and his grateful nation will remember that historic moment when Bangladesh beat two-time World champions West Indies, once the envy of the whole cricketing world when West Indians ruled supreme for over two decades.
This series defeat is a bitter pill for diehard West Indian supporters and is a sad reflection how the once mighty West Indies have fallen and their inspiring legacy further tarnished.
And amidst all the excitement and drama there were a few bright sparks. But Pollard would have felt the pangs of defeat the most after he had engineered one of the greatest recoveries with a belligerent 85 that was studded with eight powerful sixes and five blistering fours off 74 balls.
Together with Darren Bravo, who made a composed 51 (1×6 and 3x4s off 108 balls); the 24-year-old engineered a massive fight back and added respectability after Kieran Powell (11 off 8 balls), Samuels (1 off 11 balls) and Gayle (2 off 19 balls) were dismissed cheaply and left the team shakily placed at 17 for the loss of three wickets. A team with four specialist batsmen cannot win matches when the top three go cheaply.
Catches win matches but Pollard’s acrobatic diving catch to dismiss promising opener Anamul Haque, who made a match-winning 120 in the second ODIs at Khulna; did not result in the sweetness of triumph over the team West Indies had beaten 2-0 in the Test series.
Captain Darren Sammy had small consolation and was the all-round hero in the fourth ODIs on Friday with his best all-round performance of an unbeaten 60 plus two crucial early wickets but he failed with both bat and ball and made a couple of bowling changes that were baffling at crucial stages that allowed the Bangladeshis to grab the initiative and rally to a comfortable victory with 48 balls to spare.
Following two crushing defeats in the first two one-dayers at Khulna, strokeplayer Samuels, Narine and skipper Sammy produced superlative performances that restored West Indians’ pride and create optimism of winning the battle for top honours.
Samuels led the way with a match-winning magnificent 126 after the wily Narine (4 for 37), debutant spinner Veerasammy Permaul (2 for 40) and Sammy (2 for 46) restricted Bangladesh to 227 all out in 49.1 overs when they batted first in the Third ODIs at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. West Indies won the match by four wickets.
In another keenly-contested low-scoring match at the same venue and being a must-win match for Sammy’s team in the fourth ODIs; the West Indian captain finally found his best form for the whole series and led by example with a brilliant all-round performance on Friday.
He sparked the revival when West Indies batted and triggered the demolition operation with new-ball partner Kemar Roach as West Indies romped to a comfortable 75-run victory that set up the decider as the series was levelled at 2-2.
Once again, the pattern of the frontline batsmen’s failure to provide a real platform for a challenging total created tension for the West Indians who batted first and lost their first five wickets with only 79 runs on the board. Disappointing performances must be a major cause for concern.
Sammy’s positive attacking strokeplay buffeted the eventual score to 211 for 9 in 50 overs. He smashed two mighty sixes and five powerful fours off 62 balls and remained undefeated on 60, his fourth ODI fifty and second career best out of 86 matches.
Earlier this year, Sammy recorded his career best of 84 (6x6s, 6x4s off 50 balls) in a losing cause against Australia at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia. Australia made 281 for 9 in 50 overs while West Indies mustered 251 all out to concede defeat by 30 runs.
It is interesting to note that this is the first fifty that resulted in a victory for West Indies and is also the first time in his ODI career that Sammy scored a fifty and claimed any wickets in the same match. So this is the best all-round performance for Sammy and he fashioned an important victory. Overall, it was the 165th time that a player achieved the coveted feat in a total of 3 312 ODIs.
Sammy became the ninth West Indian to accomplish a score of fifty or more plus three wickets in a ODIs match. He followed in the footsteps of Sir Vivian Richards, Michael Holding, Carl Hooper, Malcolm Marshall, James Adams, Christopher Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Marlon Samuels.
His first fifty was 51 versus South Africa in a rain-interrupted match at Super Sport on January 21, 2008 with South Africa winning by six wickets (using D/L system) in his 6th career match; the second was 58 not out against the same opposition who won by 17 runs at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on May 24, 2010 (40th match) while the 84 was in his 75th match against the touring Aussies and now the unbeaten 60 in his 86th match.
His three for 28 is his third career best preceded by 4 for 26 versus Zimbabwe at the Arnos Vale Recreation ground, St Vincent on March 10, 2010 and 3 for 21 versus Bangladesh on March 4, 2011 at the same venue West Indies won the match yesterday.
Sammy also has three other three-wicket haul in a match but Friday’s performance would have pleased him the most because it provided his team the opportunity to win the series in the final encounter yesterday.
But their joy was short-lived and the full-fledged West Indies team tasted another hurtful defeat, their second ODIs series defeat to the Bangladesh team which made a 3-0 clean sweep during their Caribbean three-match ODIs tour in 2009.
Floyd Reifer was at the helm of a depleted West Indian team that was deprived of the services of its established stars who joined forces and withheld their services because of protracted contract negotiations dispute with the West Indies Board management.
On the current tour, the Darren Sammy-led West Indies celebrated a hard-fought two-Test series victory over the host nation but were surprisingly severely beaten in the first two one-dayers played at the Sheik Abu Nasser Stadium in Khulna on November 30 and December 2.
Excuses for the 2009 defeats were bypassed but there cannot be too many for this latest stinging defeat to this Bangladesh team which played without their world-rated number one all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (injured) and their latest find Abu Hasan (injured in the first ODIs) who made an historic debut century against West Indies in the recently-concluded Test series.
The WI selectors must re-examine their strategy with the current composition.