Rain plays spoilsport in first T20I
Bangladesh made a blistering start after being asked to bat by the West Indies in the first T20I in Dominica, but the boundaries dried up and wickets fell in a flurry and the Tigers could only manage 105 for eight in the first innings before rain returned at the end of the 13th over and eventually caused the match to be called off.
Shakib Al Hasan, coming in at number three, played the role of the aggressor during his 15-ball stay, hitting 29 runs during a knock that featured two maximums and as many fours.
The toss was delayed by over an hour and a half due to inclement weather. As a result, the game was curtailed to 16 overs per side. Another spell of rain midway through the first innings then saw the game further reduced to 14 overs per side.
Anamul Haque and Munim Shahriar opened the innings for Bangladesh, but the latter departed just three balls into the match, edging a delivery that turned slightly through to the wicketkeeper, sending the 24-year-old back for just two.
Shakib then came out and put on a quickfire 34-run stand with Anamul off just 18 balls.
After initially announcing his comeback to the T20I format after over seven years with consecutive boundaries, Anamul became the second Bangladeshi wicket to fall, departing in the fourth over after scoring a 10-ball 16. He failed to get any bat on an Obed McCoy delivery and was trapped leg before.
That brought Liton Das to the crease and he also showed clear intent, attacking the second ball that he faced and lashing it away for a boundary. But Bangladesh could manage only six runs from the fifth over, the last of the Powerplay, and reached 47 for two.
Shakib then hit the first ball of the sixth over for a maximum, ensuring Bangladesh's run-rate would not drop below the nine-run mark in that over either but that would be the last boundary Bangladesh would hit until the 11th over.
The three-over spell that began with the seventh would take the wind almost completely out of Bangladesh's sail as the Tigers would score just seven runs for the loss of three wickets off those 18 balls.
Romario Shepherd removed Liton in the seventh over before Shakib Al Hasan went chasing a wider delivery from spinner Hayden Walsh Jr the next over, edging behind to the wicketkeeper, reducing Bangladesh to 60 for four after 7.3 overs. Rain hit just one ball later and the game was delayed.
Afif Hossain then threw away his wicket immediately after play resumed, lasting two balls overall and scoring nought, reducing Bangladesh to 60 for five. Hosein then gained a stranglehold, giving away just two runs from the ninth over.
The 10th over was a better one as Bangladesh managed to take 12 runs off it, helped by a wide that went all the way for four. But things unraveled again the next over as Mahmudullah (eight off 13 balls) and Mahedi Hasan (one off three balls) were both dismissed by Shepherd. The silver lining was that Bangladesh finally got another boundary courtesy of Nasum Ahmed off the last ball of that over.
The following over from McCoy was also suffocating until Nurul Hasan scored a boundary off a no-ball before failing to get anything on the free hit to take Bangladesh's score to 89 for seven after 12 overs.
Nurul would then flex his muscles to round out a useful cameo, hitting two sixes as he scored 25 off 16 balls. He departed off the penultimate ball of the 13th over after taking 14 runs from it, caught in the deep as he attempted another big shot.
With just one over left in Bangladesh's innings and the scoreboard reading 105 for eight, rain began again and the game would not resume.