Match Details
Arya- For the third time in the series, Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal won the toss and put the hosts in under helpful conditions for spinners. They made a solitary change and included one more spinner in place of Shoriful Islam. The only pacer in the XI was Mustafizur Rahman who did his job in a silent manner, on a pitch where the spinners were again wreaking havoc.
Taijul Islam who had to warm the benches when Shakib Al Hasan was around made an immediate impact by bagging the wicket of Brandon King on the very first delivery he bowled. It pitched in line and turned away just enough to beat his outside edge and disturbed the timbers. He bagged the wicket of Shai Hope in double quick time to reduce West Indies to 15/2. It was again a sensational delivery which invited Hope into a drive and in the end he was deceived by the turn and pace.
Shamrah Brooks was also dismissed early as Mustafizur Rahman skidded one from a length which thudded onto the pads of Brooks. Replays showed that it just clipped the middle stump. From there on it was Nicholas Pooran and U 19 World Cup winner Keacy Carty who steadied the ship with some sensible batting. They waited for the opportunities and bid their time and collected the runs mostly in singles and doubles.
Keacy Carty was eventually dismissed in an attempt to clear the fence to a delivery which stuck on the surface and was holed out at long-on. Nicholas Pooran took the attack to the spinners and struck some lusty blows to get the scoreboard ticking over. Rovman Powell struck some impressive blows but was dismissed without a substantial score. Keemo Paul was also dismissed early which forced Pooran to take the attack.
Pooran was eventually dismissed after making 73 which included 4 fours and a couple of sixes. He was the only batter who looked used to the pitch but it was again Taijul Islam who induced a drive from Pooran which sneaked through his inside half and disturbed the timbers. Romario Shepherd struck some big blows towards the end of the innings to eventually take West Indies to 178. Taijul Islam bagged his maiden five-wicket haul and was by far the best bowler on display.
Arya- West Indies needed early wickets to harbour any hopes of defending this total. They were well aware of the fact that the only way to win the game was to bowl Bangladesh out. They came out with a positive intent right from the word go. Tamim Iqbal began fluently but Bangladesh lost the wicket of Najmul Hossain Shanto early. Out came Liton Das and in the company of his skipper, started putting Bangladesh back on top.
He continued his rich vein of form and continued in a very pleasant demeanour. He collected the runs without much fuss and it looked like he was batting on a different wicket altogether. His technique was very sound and he also struck some eye-catching strokes which laid the foundation for the visitors to clinch the series 3-0. Gurukesh Motie bowled brilliantly and was the one to dismiss Tamim Iqbal.
Mahmudullah was the next man in and along with Liton Das, the duo was taking Bangladesh towards the victory target. However, Das was dismissed just after scoring his half-century which stalled Bangladesh quite a bit. Afif Hossain was dismissed 2nd ball as he danced down the track and missed a peach of a delivery from Motie which eventually castled the stumps.
Mosaddek Hossain struck a four and a six but just when, Bangladesh was looking secure for a victory, he was dismissed. Mahmudullah after playing a fine knock gave his wicket away, with Bangladesh within touching distance of the target. From there on, all Bangladesh needed was to bat sensibly as they had enough overs in their kitty.
Nurul Hasan played a brilliant hand and eventually saw his side over the line with Mehidy Hasan Miraz in his company. They did take the game deep but they had the game well under control. Moreover, they didn’t require to do anything silly and eventually won by 4 wickets and with 9 deliveries to spare.