Bangladesh V West Indies – ODI series overview – Part II
Continued from Part I...
Another obstacle that the lowly ranked Tigers overcame quite successfully was the new ODI regulations, according to which only four fielders could be outside the inner circle at any time. The revised field plan was thought to be disadvantageous to the home spinners, but discipline and mental steel brought the hosts through with flying colours, with the Bangladesh spin attack leading from the front.
The ODI leg of the itinerary kick started with the dismissal of the star-studded West Indies batting line-up for just 199, and it became a recurrent trend as the series progressed. The tourists failed to put a par score on the board even in the two matches that they won. After chasing down the meagre target set by the tourists inside 41 overs, with seven wickets to spare, the hosts bowled out the visiting batting line-up for just 132 in the second one-dayer to script a 160-run victory – their biggest ever ODI win.
The next two ODIs, at the Shere Bangla National Stadium of Mirpur, saw the hosts being on the back foot, losing the games by four wickets and 75 runs. However, the home attack continued doing well in those games as well, as it took to the 47th over for West Indies to chase down a middling 228 to win. In the penultimate game of the series, the Mahmudullah led Bangladesh spin attack once again impressed the fans by restricting the visiting batting line-up to 211 for 9, but the hosts failed to chase down the average target, as they were bowled out for just 136 in 34.1 overs.
With the series levelled at 2-2, the Tigers came back strongly in the series decider on Saturday winning the match by two wickets. After bowling the West Indies batsmen out for 217, the hosts chased down the 218-run target in 44 overs, with two wickets to spare, courtesy a 91-run stand between skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Nasir-Hossain-c77146.
The 21-year-old Barisal spinner Sohag Gazi, playing in his maiden ODI series, has been a revelation on this tour, returning with nine scalps from five matches at an impressive average of 17.33 and a startling economy rate of 3.39. The rookie offie finished as the second highest wicket taker of the series, only behind fellow spinner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Abdur-Razzak-c41688, who picked up 10 wickets at an average of 17.80.
A lot of credit goes to the lion hearted http://www.senore.com/Cricket/CH-Gayle-c1221, to endure a torrid series – getting the big-hitting Jamaican three out of the four times he bowled at him. With a tally of just 72 runs from five innings at an average of 14.4, this was Gayle’s third-worst return in a five-ODI series.
The 3-2 series win over West Indies showed that Bangladesh's true strength lies in their bowling, and especially in their spin attack, which got the better of a formidable Windies line-up despite its inexperience.
All the five matches were attended by jam packed crowds and the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747’s victory.
"We could clearly see that the crowd came to support the home team. It's funny how quiet they went when we took a wicket. The crowd should be the 12th man for the home team and they supported them, rightly so. Likewise I like playing in front of my home crowd," said the ever-smiling Sammy after the series 2-3 defeat.
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