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West Indies 199 (Narine 36, Bravo 35, Gazi 4-29, Razzak 3-39) v Bangladesh
Offspinner Sohag Gazi followed up his productive maiden Test series with an impressive showing on ODI debut © Associated Press
Darren Sammy wanted West Indies to win the ODI series 5-0, but his team's batting again revealed its self-destructive ability in the opening game in Khulna, and threatens to put the possibility of a clean sweep to rest. On what was a safely negotiable pitch, West Indies imploded against spin, only to be rescued by a ninth-wicket stand that helped them go past 200. For Bangladesh, Sohag Gazi shone again, picking up four wickets on ODI debut to follow up an impressive start to his Test career, and the experienced Abdur Razzak chipped in with three to ensure the hosts remained in the ascendancy for the bulk of the innings.
West Indies chose to bat, expecting the track to last the day barring some early encouragement for the seamers. Mashrafe Mortaza got the ball to nip around, and beat the edge on more than one occasion, but Chris Gayle began to open up after a quiet first four overs. He dispatched a length ball from Mortaza over long-on before cashing in on a poor line to clip him for consecutive fours through the leg side. Simmons was more subdued, and was given a reprieve on 12 that he failed to take advantage of, as he was trapped in front by Mortaza following a 48-run opening stand. It included another assault from Gayle, this time against Abul Hasan, who was slapped for six over long-off and then put away for successive boundaries through leg.
Gayle, until the introduction of spin, saw to it that any prolonged period of quiet was compensated with a boundary-burst. He had welcomed Gazi into Test cricket with a six off his first ball and tried to repeat the dose off his second ball in ODIs, but holed out to long-on, where Tamim Iqbal pedalled backwards and grabbed an excellent catch over his head just inside the ropes. The ball was gripping just a bit, and it turned little, but Marlon Samuels fell to one that didn't spin, edging an attempted drive to slip. West Indies scored 48 in the first 10 overs, and 22 in the 11 that followed.
Bravo searched for opportunities, cutting and sweeping the spinners, and targeted Naeem Islam to get the scoring rate back on track. He smashed him through square leg and midwicket, and launched him over long-on, in an over that fetched 17. But West Indies were to slip again, as Pollard struck a long hop straight to midwicket in the 23rd over and Bravo followed in the next, sent back by his partner Devon Thomas when it was too late to refuse an attempt at a single.
The wickets, though, didn't stagnate the innings. Sammy and Thomas picked up boundaries amid a steady flow of singles but restraint was in short supply. Sammy was one of three batsmen to find a fielder trying to clear the ground, and he was caught by Naeem Islam just in front of the boundary after he'd moved to 10. Andre Russell failed to pick an arm ball from Abdur Razzak before Gazi picked up his third, thanks to another needless shot - played this time by Thomas - to long-on to make it three wickets in four overs.
Sunil Narine and Ravi Rampaul pulled out West Indies from the depths of 133 for 8, waiting for the batting Powerplay at the end of the 35th over to push the score. Deliveries bowled on the pads were flicked past fine leg; Narine pierced, and even cleared, the in-field on the off side for boundaries while Rampaul imparted more power into his shots, swatting Abul over long-on and smacking Mortaza over midwicket. The 52-run stand ended when Rampaul gloved Razzak to the keeper, but it still left him and his fellow bowlers defending a testing target.
Offspinner Sohag Gazi followed up his productive maiden Test series with an impressive showing on ODI debut © Associated Press
Darren Sammy wanted West Indies to win the ODI series 5-0, but his team's batting again revealed its self-destructive ability in the opening game in Khulna, and threatens to put the possibility of a clean sweep to rest. On what was a safely negotiable pitch, West Indies imploded against spin, only to be rescued by a ninth-wicket stand that helped them go past 200. For Bangladesh, Sohag Gazi shone again, picking up four wickets on ODI debut to follow up an impressive start to his Test career, and the experienced Abdur Razzak chipped in with three to ensure the hosts remained in the ascendancy for the bulk of the innings.
West Indies chose to bat, expecting the track to last the day barring some early encouragement for the seamers. Mashrafe Mortaza got the ball to nip around, and beat the edge on more than one occasion, but Chris Gayle began to open up after a quiet first four overs. He dispatched a length ball from Mortaza over long-on before cashing in on a poor line to clip him for consecutive fours through the leg side. Simmons was more subdued, and was given a reprieve on 12 that he failed to take advantage of, as he was trapped in front by Mortaza following a 48-run opening stand. It included another assault from Gayle, this time against Abul Hasan, who was slapped for six over long-off and then put away for successive boundaries through leg.
Gayle, until the introduction of spin, saw to it that any prolonged period of quiet was compensated with a boundary-burst. He had welcomed Gazi into Test cricket with a six off his first ball and tried to repeat the dose off his second ball in ODIs, but holed out to long-on, where Tamim Iqbal pedalled backwards and grabbed an excellent catch over his head just inside the ropes. The ball was gripping just a bit, and it turned little, but Marlon Samuels fell to one that didn't spin, edging an attempted drive to slip. West Indies scored 48 in the first 10 overs, and 22 in the 11 that followed.
Bravo searched for opportunities, cutting and sweeping the spinners, and targeted Naeem Islam to get the scoring rate back on track. He smashed him through square leg and midwicket, and launched him over long-on, in an over that fetched 17. But West Indies were to slip again, as Pollard struck a long hop straight to midwicket in the 23rd over and Bravo followed in the next, sent back by his partner Devon Thomas when it was too late to refuse an attempt at a single.
The wickets, though, didn't stagnate the innings. Sammy and Thomas picked up boundaries amid a steady flow of singles but restraint was in short supply. Sammy was one of three batsmen to find a fielder trying to clear the ground, and he was caught by Naeem Islam just in front of the boundary after he'd moved to 10. Andre Russell failed to pick an arm ball from Abdur Razzak before Gazi picked up his third, thanks to another needless shot - played this time by Thomas - to long-on to make it three wickets in four overs.
Sunil Narine and Ravi Rampaul pulled out West Indies from the depths of 133 for 8, waiting for the batting Powerplay at the end of the 35th over to push the score. Deliveries bowled on the pads were flicked past fine leg; Narine pierced, and even cleared, the in-field on the off side for boundaries while Rampaul imparted more power into his shots, swatting Abul over long-on and smacking Mortaza over midwicket. The 52-run stand ended when Rampaul gloved Razzak to the keeper, but it still left him and his fellow bowlers defending a testing target.