West Indies edge past Bangladesh in last-over thriller

The West Indies have kept their semi-final qualification hopes alive by the barest of margins in the T20 World Cup after securing a nail-biting victory against Bangladesh by only three runs. Andre Russell held his nerve and executed his yorkers to perfection to defend 13 in the final over which gave the Men in Maroon their first win off the tournament.

On a sluggish Sharjah deck, the mighty West Indian batting lineup once again struggled to press the accelerator. Lendl Simmons was dropped for Roston Chase with Chris Gayle moving up to open the innings, but the West Indies top order found it particularly difficult to score freely with only two boundaries coming in the opening ten overs. 

Evin Lewis departed in the 3rd over after top-edging a delivery from Mustafizur Rahman, while the off-spinner Mahedi Hasan accounted for both left-handers – Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetymer – to leave the West Indies stranded at 33 for three. Things got worse in the middle overs with Kieron Pollard playing an uncharacteristic innings of 8 from 16 before Andre Russell was run-out at the non-striker’s end for a duck.

They eventually recovered thanks to a power-packed knock from Nicholas Pooran, who benefitted from a missed stumping from Liton Das before finally clicking into gear. Pooran smashed spinners Shakib al Hasan and Mahedi Hasan for a couple of sixes each in his knock of 40 from 22, and the returning Jason Holder continued that momentum in the final over – carting Mustafizur for two leg-side maximums to take the West Indies to 142.

An injured Shakib al Hasan was sent to open to make the most of the powerplay, but the left-hander struggled to find his timing and departed for just 9 of 12. The Tigers only managed 29 runs off the first six overs, but unlike the West Indies, they accelerated through the middle overs with Liton Das anchoring the innings and sharing crucial partnerships with Soumya Sarkar and Mushfiqur Rahim.

West Indies were far from disciplined with the ball and in the field, and Bangladesh were in pole position with 33 needed off the final four overs. However, Dwayne Bravo bowled two excellent overs at the death – conceding just 12 runs and picking up the wicket of Liton Das for 44 – to give Andre Russell 13 to defend off the final over.

There was plenty of drama in the final six deliveries – including dropped catches and misfield’s – but Andre Russell used his wealth of experience to close the game out and help the West Indies get their World Cup campaign back on track with two points on the board.