Bangladesh sealed the three-match ODI series 2-1 over the West Indies after a crushing 179-run win in the third and final match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Thursday.听
The hosts posted 296-8 in 50 overs, their highest in 11 matches, courtesy of their openers Saif Hassan and Soumya Sarkar, who added 176 runs for the first wicket.听
The spinners then did the demolition job, as the West Indies were all out for just 117 runs in 30.1 overs. This was Bangladesh鈥檚 second biggest win in terms of runs as well as the biggest against the West Indies.听
Spinners Nasum Ahmed and Rishad Hossain each took three wickets, while Tanvir Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz shared four wickets between them.听
This was also Bangladesh鈥檚 first bilateral series win after four consecutive losses and Mehidy鈥檚 maiden under his leadership.
Left-arm spinner Nasum demolished the top order as the West Indies lost three for 35. Alick Athanaze and Brandon King tried to remain positive but failed, while Ackeem Auguste was trapped lbw without scoring.听
Tanvir then dented the middle order before Rishad came to the fore to further jolt the Caribbean side. Mehidy then finished the job with the final two wickets.
The visitors鈥� highest partnership of 20 runs came in the 10th wicket between Akeal Hosein and Khary Pierre.听
Earlier, after a scratchy batting display from both teams in the previous two matches, Soumya and Saif brought fresh hope when they started to play shots early in the innings.听
Winning the toss, Bangladesh opted to bat again on a used wicket where turn and uneven bounces were expected. However, the openers quickly found the rhythm, making effective use of sweep and reverse-sweep shots.
They added 74 runs in the first powerplay, Bangladesh鈥檚 highest since March 2023. West Indies鈥� sloppy fielding helped their cause too, as both openers got reprieves before reaching their respective fifties.听
The visitors were finally able to break the second-highest opening partnership of Bangladesh when Saif was caught at the long-on boundary off Roston Chase after scoring 80 off 72 balls, with six fours and six sixes.听
Soumya also missed out on his hundred when his attempted slog off Akeal Hosein was caught at wide long-on. He hit seven fours and four sixes in his innings of 91 off 86 balls.听
Bangladesh were 181-2 at that stage, and a score beyond 300 was well within their reach. But when the 50-run partnership between Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy was broken when the latter was dismissed in the 40th over, Bangladesh halted.听
A mini collapse of four wickets for nine runs followed after Shanto was caught and bowled off Alick Athanaze after making 44.听
However, Nurul Hasan鈥檚 16 off eight and Mehidy鈥檚 run-a-ball 17 helped them to reach a total closer to the 300 mark.听
Hosein, the visitor鈥檚 super-over hero from the previous night, was the standout bowler with a figure of 4-41, while Athanaze grabbed 2-37.
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