Bangladesh took the lead in the series by winning the first ODI. They lost the second match in a Super Over but completely dominated the third match, defeating West Indies by a huge 179 runs. With this win, the hosts secured the series 2-1.
After winning the toss in Mirpur, Bangladesh batted first and scored 296 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Soumya scored the highest for the team with 91 runs, while Saif contributed 80 runs. In reply, West Indies were bowled out for just 117 runs in 30.1 overs.
Once again, Bangladesh attacked with spin bowling from both ends right from the start. Although the two Caribbean openers played cautiously given the big target, Bangladesh had to wait until the fifth over to break the opening partnership. Nasum got the breakthrough by trapping Alik Athanaze lbw.
In his very next over, Nasum took another wicket, dismissing left-hander Akim Auguste. Auguste couldn’t open his account after facing three balls.
Brendon King, trying to get going, was also sent back by Nasum, bowled for 18 off 17 balls.
The most important pillar in the West Indies middle order, Shai Hope, who single-handedly won the previous match, was dismissed by Tanvir Islam for just 4 runs off 16 balls. Following Hope, Sherfane Rutherford was caught by Miraz off Rishad’s bowling after scoring 12 runs.
After early collapses in the batting order, the Caribbean team couldn’t recover. Towards the end, Justin Greaves and Akil Hossain tried to reduce the margin of defeat. Akil, batting at number ten, scored 27 runs, the highest individual score in the innings.
Nasum Ahmed and Rishad Hossain took 3 wickets each for Bangladesh. Miraz and Tanvir took 2 wickets each.
Earlier, Bangladesh started batting with a strong intent, hitting two fours in the first over through Saif. Soumya Sarkar also joined aggressively. The opening partnership reached 50 runs in just 46 balls. Seeing no success with spin, West Indies captain Shai Hope handed the ball to pace bowler Justin Greaves in the 10th over, but he too failed to make an impact.
Soumya reached his fifty off 48 balls, marking his 14th fifty in ODIs and sixth against West Indies. Saif also reached his first ODI fifty off just 44 balls.
The two openers looked set for centuries and were playing with great momentum. However, Bangladesh lost their first wicket at the 26th over when Saif was caught at long-on by Justin Greaves while attempting a six off Royston Chase. Saif had scored 80 runs off 72 balls with 6 sixes.
Soumya, just short of a century, was caught out after scoring 91 off 86 balls.
After the two openers’ dismissal, the run rate slowed down considerably. Taohid Hridoy and Najmul Hossain Shanto played several dot balls, putting Bangladesh under pressure. Trying to relieve the pressure with big shots, Taohid was dismissed after scoring 28 off 44 balls. Shanto also got out just before reaching fifty, scoring 44 off 55 balls.
Middle-order batsmen Mahidul Islam Ankon, Rishad Hossain, and Nasum Ahmed failed to make significant contributions. Rishad, promoted to number six after his good performance in the previous two matches, scored just 3 runs off 6 balls this time.
At the end, Nurul Hasan finished well with 16 not out off 8 balls. Miraz also contributed a quick 17 runs off 17 balls.
