In what was a do-or-die game to stay alive in the T20 World Cup for both the teams, Bangladesh suffered a heart-breaking defeat by a mere margin of 3 runs against West Indies in Sharjah on Friday.
It was another disappointment for Bangladesh. Tigers were chasing 143 in the second half and the match turned out be an absolute cliff-hanger.
When Liton Das was out there, he made batting look so easy. Soumya Sarkar came out and timed the ball pretty well after Shakib al Hasan and Mohammad Naim were sent back inside the powerplay. West Indies kept things calm but Bravo leaked 15 in his second over and that allowed Bangladesh back in. Mushfiqur Rahim, for an experienced player, then played a needless fancy shot and threw it away.
Pressure was on Bravo to get it right with just 33 needed off 4 overs and he bowled a masterful 17th over. Packed the off-side, bowled to that field and took the leg-side away. Suddenly West Indies gained the upper hand with that 3-run over.
Bangladesh got a four and six at the very start of the next two overs, but in the most crucial stage of the match when Bangladesh needed 13 off 7 balls, Liton got out to an absolute stunner of a catch by Holder. The ball was definitely going for a six but Holder’s height advantage made the catch look easy. Liton’s 43-ball 44 in the end went in vain. Russell closed it out pretty well with his yorkers to keep West Indies afloat in this World Cup and end Bangladesh’s World Cup in a heart-breaking manner.
Earlier, West Indies scored a par total of 142. Thanks to some dropped catches by the Bangladesh fielders and Nicholas Pooran, who with his 22-ball 40, found a way to reverse what had until then been an absolute slugfest. For Windies, nobody ever got going. Evin Lewis and Chris Gayle fell early, Kieron Pollard retied himself hurt, Roston Chase just couldn't connect, and at one stage they would happily have taken 120. But Pooran didn’t let them. Jason Holder too struck a couple of big ones after being dropped by Afif, before Pollard walked back out, and redeemed what had been a very scratchy innings, with that last ball six. For Bangladesh Mahedi, Shoriful and Mustafizur grabbed two wickets each.
