ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC) –Mystery spinner Sunil Narine triggered an avalanche of batsmen as Bangladesh crashed to a 177-run defeat allowing West Indies to take an unassailable two-nil lead in their three-match One-Day International (ODI) series at the National Stadium here yesterday.
Narine struck twice in two balls to spark a procession of batsmen as Bangladesh, precariously placed on 57 for three, were shot out for a disappointing 70 in 24.4 overs, their third lowest total in ODI.
West Indies, sent in by Bangladesh, were restricted to a respectable 247 for seven on account of tight bowling mainly from new-ball bowlers, Mashrafe Mortaza and Al-Amin Hossain.
Only opener Tamim Iqbal with 37 provided any semblance of resistance to the Windies attack with no other batsmen getting into double figures in a Bangladesh innings that resembled a telephone number.
Bangladesh’s nightmare of an innings got worse when they lost five wickets for ten runs in just a few overs amid a carnival atmosphere at the national stadium.
The final seven wickets fell for just 13 runs, with West Indies claiming victory just minutes after Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell arrived at the National Stadium perhaps hoping for a full afternoon of cricket.
Narine and Roach ran through the middle order with the spinner capturing three for 13 and the pacer three for 19.
Narine produced a delivery that beat Mushfiqur Rahim on extra bounce and followed up with a ball that kept slightly low, beating Mahmudullah’s bat and hitting the off stump.
Roach’s three-wicket haul included the important wicket of Iqbal who was unable to keep down a ball that bounced and gave Chris Gayle a simple catch at midwicket.
The visitors lost wickets quickly moving from 57 for 3 to 57 for 6 and 66 for 8.
Ravi Rampaul had two wickets while Jason Holder, who was given the new ball, had one.
Earlier, Bangladesh spinners bowled with a tight line to contain West Indies at less than five runs an over.
Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo scored half-centuries and, with Denesh Ramdin and Lendl Simmons, shaped the innings which spluttered significantly at the death overs with the homeside failing to exploit and losing a couple of quick wickets.
Gayle and Bravo added 88 runs for the second wicket with the former dominating the partnership after a quiet start.
In his first ODI fifty in more than a year the Jamaican batsman hit three fours and five sixes to lead with a top score of 58.
Bravo scored a solid knock of 53 and shared another important partnership, 51 runs for the third wicket with Denesh Ramdin who survived a stumping chance to contribute 34.
Lendl Simmons, who was dropped down the order, laboured to 40 and was bogged down for most of his innings.
However, he managed to ride the frustration as Bangladesh bowlers kept the pressure up, to scrape up a fourth-wicket stand of 53 with Kieron Pollard who made a colourful 26, highlighted by two fours and a six.
Mortaza was the most successful bowler for Bangladesh with three wickets for 39 runs.
The victory over Bangladesh ensures West Indies complete their first ODI series win since February 2013.
The third and final game in the series will be played at Warner Park in St Kitts on Monday.
WEST INDIES innings
C. Gayle c Sohag Gazi b Mahmudullah 58
K. Edwards b Al-Amin Hossain 0
DM Bravo lbw b Sohag Gazi 53
D. Ramdin c Mushfiqur Rahim b Al-Amin Hossain 34
L. Simmons c Mahmudullah b Mashrafe Mortaza 40
K. Pollard b Mashrafe Mortaza 26
DJ Bravo c Mushfiqur Rahim b Mashrafe Mortaza 6
J. Holder not out 8
S. Narine not out 7
Extras: (b-1, lb-2, w-12) 15
Total: (7 wickets; 50 overs) 247
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-93, 3-144, 4-171, 5-222, 6-231, 7-231.
Bowling: Mortaza 10-1-39-3, Al-Amin Hossain 10-1-60-2, Mahmudullah 10-0-47-1, Sohag Gazi 9-1-47-1, Nasir Hossain 1-0-8-0, Razzak 10-0-43-0.
BANGLADESH innings
Tamim Iqbal c Gayle b Roach 37
Anamul Haque c Ramdin b Holder 7
Imrul Kayes c Simmons b Rampaul 1
Shamsur Rahman b Roach 4
Mushfiqur Rahim c Ramdin b Narine 6
Mahmudullah b Narine 0
Nasir Hossain c Pollard b Roach 6
Sohag Gazi c Edwards b Narine 2
Mashrafe Mortaza lbw b Rampaul 2
Abdur Razzak not out 0
Al-Amin Hossain run-out 0
Extras: (w-5) 5
Total: (all out; 24.4 overs) 70
Fall of wickets 1-12, 2-27, 3-42, 4-57, 5-57, 6-57, 7-60, 8-66, 9-70.
Bowling: Holder 6-0-17-1, Rampaul 5.4-1-21-2, Roach 6-2-19-3, Narine 7-0-13-3.