Bangladesh Suffer 5-Wicket Defeat to West Indies

Bangladesh's 11-match winning streak against West Indies ended when the hosts thrashed them by five wickets in the three-match ODI series-opening game, thanks to a maiden ton of Sherfane Rutherford at Warner Park in St Kitts today.

Rutherford smashed 80 ball-113 as West Indies gunned down Bangladesh's 294-6 effortlessly by amassing 295-5 in 47.4 overs.

It was Rutherford's sixth fifty-plus knock in his only 10-match career. He clubbed seven fours and eight towering sixes in a brutal knock that left Bangladesh in a shocked state.

Skipper Shai Hope blasted 88 ball-86 with three fours and four sixes. He and Rutherford shared a 99-run for the fourth wicket to bring the side back into the contest after Bangladesh bowlers ruled West Indies batters to raise the prospect of a 12th consecutive victory against them.

With Bangladesh bowlers keeping a nagging line and length, the top order of the West Indies was stifled. A big hitter like Brandon King played 16 balls for 9 runs before being trapped leg-before by Tanzim Hasan Sakib and new pace sensation Nahid Rana removed another big hitter Evin Lewis, also via leg-before. Lewis made 16 off 31.

And when Rishad Hossain got the better of Keacy Carty after he scored 21 off 37, West Indies were left with 94-3 in 22 overs, giving Bangladesh hope of winning the game.

But Rutherford played the blinder as he came down heavily on the Bangladesh bowlers to make them completely disarray. His brutal attack in fact forced the bowlers to lose their line and length.

Captain Hope also complemented him with resolution but in an attacking fashion. Mehidy Hasan Miraz broke the partnership by removing Hope but Rutherford got another support from Justin Greaves with whom he shared 95 runs off just 57 balls to help the side close in on a victory.

Rutherford meantime raised his maiden century off 77 balls when a Bangladesh fielder overthrew to gift him six runs. But he later struck two consecutive sixes off Soumya before falling to the same over, trying to third straight six. West Indies were just seven runs away from the victory when he was dismissed.

Greaves who was unbeaten on 31 ball-41 then completed the inevitable with plenty of balls to spare.

During the toss, Bangladesh stand-in skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz predicted a 280-plus total would be good enough to win the game. But on a day when Rutherford was in a beast mood, it was just not enough.

Three batters hit half-centuries in Bangladesh's total with Miraz leading the way with the highest 74. Opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim struck run-a-ball-60 while experienced Mahmudullah Riyad hammered 44 ball-50. Jaker Ali Anik brought up his Test form to the ODI format too, blasting a 40 ball-48 that helped
Bangladesh's edge is closer to 300.

After opting to bat first, Bangladesh made a solid start with Tanzid finding the boundaries at regular intervals. Soumya Sarkar too made a decent start but fell for 18 ball-19 while Liton Das was dismissed for 2 to leave Bangladesh 46-2.

Tanzid and Miraz then combined for a 79-run for the third wicket which set the platform for a big total.

Tanzid hammered six fours and three sixes in his third fifty-plus knock before being removed by pacer Alzarri Joseph who took 2-67 eventually.

Miraz was a little bit slow in his approach but brought up his fifth ODI fifty without any trouble. He looked set for a century before Jayden Seals denied him.

Afif Hossain fell to Romairo Shepherd after scoring 28. Shepherd finished with 3-51 to be the best bowler for West Indies.

Jaker and Mahmudullah then lived up to their reputation of finisher tag by adding 96 off 74 balls to help Bangladesh finish on high. Both of the batters hit three fours and as many sixes with Mahmudullah remaining not out after raising his 30th half-century.

Source: BSS