Two teams staring at an early exit from the competition faced off in a contest which bordered on the mediocre, what with sloppy fielding and dropped catches dominating proceedings. What helped West Indies sneak over the line was a standout innings from the under-fire Nicholas Pooran and a tidy last over from Andre Russell.
The duo’s star act on Friday evening in Sharjah ensured the defending champions pipped Bangladesh by a three-run margin. The result keeps West Indies in the hunt mathematically, although with a poor net run rate of -1.598. Bangladesh are out of the reckoning after three consecutive losses.
Chasing a modest 142/7 posted by West Indies, Bangladesh managed 139 for five, unable to eke out the 12 runs needed for victory in the final over.
Sent into bat, the West Indies top-order, which was rejigged with Chris Gayle (4) opening alongside Evin Lewis (6), failed to get going. Mahedi Hasan (2/27) and Taskin Ahmed (0/17) tied down the openers and the pressure told when Lewis offered a sitter to Mushfiqur Rahim at square-leg off Mustafizur Rahman in the third over.
Gayle followed soon after, misreading Hasan’s line and losing his stumps in the process. Roston Chase offered some respite with a patient 46 ball-39, an effort that held the innings together as wickets fell at regular intervals. By the 13th over, Windies were reduced to 62 for 4 when, finally, they found momentum through Pooran.
With Chase for company, Pooran upped the tempo with a 22-ball 40 (1×4, 4×6). In the penultimate over, Shoriful Islam put the brakes on the charge, getting rid of both set batsmen off consecutive balls. But West Indies had a sting in their tail with Jason Holder and skipper Kieron Pollard hammering three sixes in the last over sent down by Mustafizur.
Bangladesh made a mess of a mildly tricky run-chase as their batsmen’s struggles continued. The Windies bowlers didn’t give away many freebies, but their fielders more than compensated by putting down regulation catches and fumbling in the outfield as the pressure mounted.
The defending champions thus kept Bangladesh alive in the contest, with Liton Das (44, 43b, 4×4) and skipper Mahmudullah (31 n.o, 24b, 2×4, 1×6) taking the fight to the opposition. But with Liton falling to Dwayne Bravo in the 19th over, and Russell executing his yorkers with perfection, Mahmudullah and Afif Hossain failed to get the magic number of 12 in the last over.