Shakib, Liton stars as Tigers maul West Indies

Riding on the back-to-back tons by Shakib Al Hasan and a brisk half century by Liton Das, Bangladesh outclassed West Indies by seven wickets with 51 balls to spare in their fifth game of the ongoing World Cup at Taunton on Monday.

Chasing a record total of 321 runs, the rampant Tigers reached the target scoring 322 runs for three in 41.3 overs.

Bangladesh never won a game in World Cups chasing as many runs. This win brought the Tigers to the 5th position of the points table. 

After 5 Overs

Bangladesh 34/0

Sarkar 18* (10), Tamim 9 (19)

Cottrell 3-0-27-0

Thomas 2-0-7-0 

Bangladesh came back with late wickets in the death overs but Windies still managed to post an imposing total in the first innings.

The Tigers will have to create a new record if they are to successfully chase down the total. The most runs they chased in the World Cup was 319 against Scotland in 2015. 

After 50 Overs

West Indies 321/8

Thomas 6* (11)

Saifuddin 10-1-72-3

Mustafiz 9-0-59-3 

After 45 Overs

West Indies 288/6

Hope 91* (114), Bravo 2* (3)

Saifuddin 7-1-48-2

Mehidy 9-0-57-0 

After 40 Overs

West Indies 242/5

Hope 82* (102), Holder 0* (0)

Mustafizur 6-0-43-2

Mehidy 8-0-52-0 

After 35 Overs

West Indies 193/3

Hope 69* (91), Hetmyer 14* (9)

Mustafizur 5-0-41-0

Saifuddin 5-1-22-1 

After 30 Overs

West Indies 151/2

Hope 51* (78), Pooran 21* (22)

Mehidy 6-0-36-0

Shakib 5-0-30-1 

Here's an interesting fact about the Lewis-Hope partnership - 

After 25 Overs

West Indies 122/2

Hope 44* (67), Pooran 0* (3)

Shakib 3-0-26-1 

Mosaddek 4-0-15-0

After 20 Overs

West Indies 86/1

Lewis 45* (52), Hope 33* (55)

Mosaddek 2-0-5-0

Mustafizur 4-0-22-0

After 15 Overs

West Indies 64/2

Lewis 35* (42), Hope 21* (35)

Mustafizur 2-0-13-0

Mehidy 3-0-10-0

After 10 Overs

West Indies 32/1 

Lewis 17* (26), Hope 12* (21)

Mashrafe 5-19-0

Mehidy 1-0-2-0

After 5 Overs

Chris Gayle caught by Mushiqur as Saifuddin picks up an early scalp. 

West Indies 8/1 

Gayle 0 (13), Lewis 6* (11), Hope 0* (6)

Mashrafe 3-1-5-0

Saifuddin 2-1-2-1

Bangladesh have won the toss and elected to bowl first against West Indies in a must win match at Taunton. 

Bangladesh and West Indies are both on three points from four matches, but Bangladesh are behind on net run rate at 8th, whereas West Indies are on sixth.

A loss here would be a big blow to the chances of making the semis for both the teams, as they would have to win all of their remaining games. 

The last time Bangladesh faced West Indies in the World Cup, they were bowled out for 58 in their own home ground at Mirpur. But eight years on, the tigers will hope a better result this time around, and they need one to get a spot in the top four.

The Tigers have beat West Indies in all of the last three matches in the tri-nation series in Ireland, where they clinched their first multinational trophy. Bangladesh have won seven of the last nine matches against the Caribbeans, including two series wins at both home and away.

Bangladesh have an injury scare in Mushfiqur Rahim who injured his right hand in training. It’s a possibility he might not keep today, Liton Das being the replacement. Mehidy Hasan’s good record against West Indies will make him a threat, whereas the small boundaries of the Taunton ground will be a major concern for Bangladesh as the West Indian team is full of big hitters.

Liton Das comes in for Mohammad Mithun, as Carles Brathwaite gives place to Darren Bravo. 

Bangladesh Lineup – Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Saifuddin, Mashrafe Mortaza ©, Mustafizur Rahman

West Indies Lineup – Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder ©, Andre Russell, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Shannon Gabriel