Bangladesh-WI second ODI today
Bangladesh paid the price for their lack of bowling option and penetrating power as West Indies recovered from a grave situation to romp to a three-wicket win in the first one-day international in Grenada on Wednesday. West Indies were struggling at 34-5 before Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin added 145 runs for the sixth wicket to leave Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim and the team management ruing for not applying their cricketing sense.
The Tigers had opted to leave out experienced Abdur Razzak and went into the match with only five specialist bowlers without any back-up, which eventually cost the team dearly.
Mushfiqur Rahim was left without any option once Pollard decided to go after young Taskin Ahmed, who was playing his first international one-day game abroad.
Left with no choice, Mushfiq had to use Nasir Hossain and even Shamsur Rahman, who hardly get a chance to bowl in club cricket.
West Indies targetted to go after the part-timers whenever there was any possibility and literally took the game away from the grasp of the Tigers, who looked to be over-joyous before the hurricane innings produced by Pollard.
Boundaries started to flow as Pollard began to swing freely helping West Indies go past 100 in the 26th over though they could score just 20 runs in the first 10 overs.
A dumbfounded Mushfiq clearly lacked any creativity and used six bowlers inside 20 overs despite Bangladesh having the upper hand during the large part of the period. His decision to change the bowler too often also helped West Indies take the momentum away.
Mashrafee, who was at his sublime best, was removed from the attack after bowling just four overs in his first spell, which took the pressure off West Indies.
When Mushfiq brought Mashrafee back, Pollard was already well settled and dared to hit Bangladesh’s spearhead bowler for a six, something was morale-shattering for the Tigers.
The exclusion of Mominul Haque was also beyond explanation as he has already proved that he has some bowling in him apart from being a very fine batsman in the making.
With three centuries under his belt in just seven Tests and the ability of playing shots all over the park, coach Chandika Hathurusinghe’s failure to keep faith in him by no means helped the tourists.
With no Sakib al Hasan and Abdur Razzak, Mominul was the only player who could offer some left-arm spin against a side that picked five right-handers among their top seven batsmen.
Instead of picking Mominul, Mushfiq and Hathurusinghe opted to pack the starting line-up with four openers, something which was utterly beyond comprehension.
The second match of the series will be held at the same venue today.
-With New Age input
