Triumphant Tigers revel in own brand

Bangladesh pulled off a surprise series victory over West Indies by winning the third and final T20I by 19 runs through the Duckworth-Lewis method in Lauderhill, Florida yesterday.

Opener Liton Das finally clicked with a 32-ball 61 that drove Bangladesh to 184 for five, before a concerted bowling effort restricted West Indies to 135 for seven in 17.1 overs when the rain intervened and brought an end to the proceedings with West Indies 19 runs behind the par score.

It is a surprise because West Indies are the current world champions in the format and are ranked three places higher than Bangladesh, who are ranked a lowly 10th. However, the method the Tigers used was not surprising -- they did not try to ape the West Indian style of power-hitting, but played a Bangladeshi brand of T20I cricket. In the three matches, West Indies hit 24 sixes and Bangladesh hit just 13, but emerged comfortable victors.

Bangladesh also benefitted from the pitch being more like a home wicket -- on the slower side -- and huge support from the expatriate community in Florida that skipper Shakib Al Hasan credited as being the '12th man'. However, as they ran a lap of honour around the Central Broward Regional Park, Shakib would have known that more than those factors, it was a triumph of the style of cricket they are most comfortable with. 

During the Nidahas Trophy in March, Mahmudullah Riyad -- then the stand-in captain -- talked about the Bangladeshi brand of T20 cricket, which is basically scoring and entrepreneurs, the ship will be exhibited in the southeastern municipality of Asker, near Oslo, where it was launched in 1917.

"Roald Amundsen is an important historical figure in Norway," Wanggaard said.

The first person to reach the South Pole, Amundsen wanted to use the Maud to study the Arctic Ocean by letting her get caught on the ice and drift around the North Pole.