With the teams playing each other nine times over the past year, there were no surprises in the opposition camp for either West Indies or Bangladesh in the World Cup match at the Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton. They knew each other’s strengths -- Bangladesh’s steady batting and spin-bowling acumen versus West Indies’ power-hitting and battery of 140kph-plus bowlers -- and they also knew how to nullify it. For much of West Indies’ innings after they were asked to bat first, Bangladesh did just that. There was one short period, however, where Bangladesh’s standards slipped and West Indies’ lifted in the form of a 26-ball 50 by Shimron Hetymer, who bucked trends by overcoming his tormentor Mehedi Hasan Miraz.
Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza drew not just upon the last year, when they beat West Indies in seven of the nine ODIs, but also upon the 2012 series that Bangladesh won 3-2 at home against the new T20 champions. He opened the bowling against Chris Gayle and hounded the Universe Boss with line, length and movement just as he had done repeatedly seven years ago. Mashrafe bowled a maiden to him in the first over and Mohammad Saifuddin bowled five dots to Gayle. 12 consecutive dot balls forced Gayle to abandon the leave he had been employing and poke at a Saifuddin ball to be caught for a 13-ball duck. The first threat was nullified.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Even as Evin Lewis started to play his shots, Bangladesh bowled as a unit to keep West Indies to 32 for one after 10 overs.
Shakib Al Hasan ended a 116-run second-wicket partnership between Lewis and Shai Hope by getting the latter to hole out to long off. He also accounted for Nicholas Pooran, caught at long on, to bring the score to a middling 159 for three in the 33rd over.
Till now, everything was going according to script. Hope had dropped anchor in order to let others bat around him, Bangladesh were bowling in partnerships to keep West Indies from getting away. A total of around 270 would not be a threatening one for Bangladesh as they had won from that position in three games in Ireland against the same opposition last month. However, that is when Bangladesh’s standards dropped and Hetmyer’s rose. Mustafizur Rahman -- who would later make amends in a fine death-overs spell -- lost the plot in the 35th over, conceding 19 runs, which included five wides. Hetmyer was then also untroubled by Mehedi -- the man who got him out four times in Tests and thrice in ODIs in the last year -- as Bangladesh’s most economical bowler in the World Cup had a rare off day, starting with his spell to Hetmyer.
The left-hander hit Mosaddek Hossain for a six and a four in one over and Saifuddin for two sixes in another as the fourth-wicket partnership rocketed to 83 in just 7.1 overs, changing the course of the innings.
Mustafizur, who bowled waywardly and too straight in his first five overs, then came to the party in the 40th over and dismissed both Hetmyer and Andre Russell -- West Indies’ other danger man -- in the same over.
Bangladesh conceded a combined 110 runs in the first 10 and last 10 overs, but the 30 overs in between -- usually Bangladesh’s strength as the spinners come into play -- leaked 211 runs, thanks mainly to a blitz from Hetmyer. Failing a similar off-script play from Bangladesh’s batsmen, those middle overs could prove decisive.
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