Windies down Bangladesh for maiden win
Raipur, Mar 13: West Indies Legends registered their maiden win of the Road Safety World Series T20 when they defeated Bangladesh Legends by five wickets at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Friday.
Chasing 170 to win, the West Indies reached their target with seven balls to spare with Kird Edwards shining with a 28-ball 47 which included six boundaries and two sixes.
Mahandera Nagagamootoo finished the game with a slog boundary off Abdur Razzak in the 18th over.
However, Windies captain Brian Lara would be happy to have remained unbeaten with a stylish 32 in 23 balls which included three boundaries.
Windies with 4 points now are still in the tournament as they meet England next. Meanwhile, Bangladesh are out, but they have a game against South Africa to salvage their pride.
Earlier, Bangladesh top order struck collectively to help their team post a respectable 169 for seven in 20 overs.
Opener Mehrab Hossain came up with a responsible knock of 44 off 45 balls with five boundaries while his partner Nazimuddin and number 3 Aftab Ahmed scored 33 and 31, respectively.
For West Indies, left-arm spinner Suleiman Benn was the top wicket-taker with three wickets and 17 runs with an impressive economy rate of 4.25. Off-break Ryan Austin took two for 43.
Bangladesh got off to a great start with the opening pair being involved in a half century partnership. Nazimuddin continued his daredevilry with the bat and made a quick-fire 24-ball 33 that had three boundaries and two sixes.
Meanwhile, Hossain was more cautious in his approach.
But as things were looking good for Bangladesh, Nazimuddin ran himself out when the scoreboard read 61.
Next batsman Ahmed took forward Nazimuddin’s aggression and the two saw the team past the three figure mark. A few moments later, Ahmed edged Windies pacer Tino Best to wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs.
Despite a long stay at the wicket, Hossain could not complete his half century and was dismissed by Austin at 44 (45 balls) which included five boundaries
Bangladesh witnessed a mini collapse thanks to Suleiman Benn who got Khaled Mashud and Mohammedd Rafique in two overs.
Sharif, however, turned aggressive and hit three sixes to Austin in one over before Benn got his wicket.
Bangladesh were finally restricted to 169/7 in 20 overs.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh Legends 169/7 in 20 overs (Mehrab Hossain 44, Nazimuddin 33, Aftab Ahmed 31, Mohammad Sharif 26; Suleiman Benn 3/17, Ryan Austin 2/43) lost to West Indies Legends 173/5 in 18.5 obrtd (Kirk Edwards 46, Ridley Jacobs 34, Brian Lara 31 not out, William Perkins 22, Mahendra Nagamootoo 16 not out; Abdur Razzak 2/34) by 5 wickets
(UNI)