West Indies beat Bangladesh in the first T20I of a three-match series at the Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram on Monday.
With this win, they took the lead 1-0.
West Indies won the toss and opted to bat first. They posted 165 for 3, with captain Shai Hope anchoring the innings with 46 not out off 28 balls. Rovman Powell posted 44 not out after a slow start.
Earlier, Alick Athanaze made 34 and Brandon King 33.
Taskin Ahmed took two wickets for Bangladesh, while Rishad Hossain picked up one.
Chasing 166, Bangladesh started brightly with Tanzid Hasan striking a six and a four in the opening over, but the early promise quickly faded.
Tanzid fell in the second over, followed by Litton Das and Saif Hassan as the home side lost four wickets inside the Powerplay. Towhid Hridoy scored 28, while Tanzim Hasan Sakib’s 33 off 27 balls gave brief hope before the innings ended at 149 in 19.4 overs.
Jason Holder and Jayden Seales shared three wickets each, with Akeal Hosein taking two.
Player of the Match Rovman Powell said after the win that conditions were not easy for batting early on.
“At the end of the innings, I was really pleased. It was difficult for me to start on the wicket; at one point, I was about 7 off 20 deliveries,” he said. “I just kept believing that if I could get a good shot, a good boundary, I would turn it around. We just needed to go as deep as possible. Fortunately for the captain and me, by the 18th over we had some balls under our belt, so we could maximize the scoring.”
Bangladesh captain Litton Das admitted his side struggled with both early batting and late bowling execution.
Spinners bag all wickets as Bangladesh outclass West Indies to win the series
“I thought they batted really well in the first 10 overs. The wicket was on the slower side. If we had taken early wickets, they would have been under pressure,” he said. “We lost too many wickets in the Powerplay. I was upset with Shamim Hossain’s batting — he has to take more responsibility. We bowled well overall except for the last over. They fielded brilliantly; we need to take those catches and learn from this.”
The second T20I will be played at the same venue on October 29, where Bangladesh will look to level the series. The third and final of the series will take place on October 31.//