Pooran, Mayers power Windies to T20I series win over Tigers

Kyle Mayers and Nicholas Pooran hit rapid fifties as they helped West Indies bounce back from a precarious situation to eventually register a convincing five-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the third and final T20I at the Providence Stadium in Guyana today. 

With this dominating win, West Indies sealed the three-match series 2-0 after the first T20I got washed out. 

Mayers and Pooran were lethal in their approach as the duo combined for an 85-run stand for the fourth wicket off just 51 deliveries that helped the Windies eventually finish off the chase of a competitive 164-run target with 10 deliveries to spare. And in a fitting manner, Pooran hit the winning runs with a huge six off Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah Riyad.    

Both Mayers and Pooran, following a brief spell of cautiousness in the beginning when the Windies lost quick wickets, dealt in boundaries as the duo combined for a total of 17 boundaries between them. 

Mayers, on way to his maiden T20I fifty, struck two fours and five maximums before departing to a Nasum Ahmed delivery in the 15th over after a quick-fire 38-ball 55. Pooran played the captain's knock as he stayed till the end, scoring an unbeaten 39-ball 74 that saw a total of five fours and as many sixes.  

However, Bangladesh did get off to a promising start as their ploy of attacking with spinners in the opening overs paid dividends. Spinners Nasum Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan struck early, reducing the hosts to 22 for two in 3.2 overs. 

Nasum, who opened the bowling and was greeted with a six in the very first ball by Brandon King, retaliated by having the right-hander caught at mid-on in the final delivery of that over. 

Shamarh Brooks was the next to fall when he swept a Mahedi delivery straight to Anamul Haque at square leg. To make things more worrisome for the Windies, Shakib Al Hasan had Odean Smith trapped in front with his very first delivery of the game in the seventh over as the hosts were left in a spot of bother.  

Earlier, Afif Hossain notched his maiden T20I fifty while Liton Das scored 49 to help Bangladesh to a competitive total.