DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC- Stylish right-hander Marlon Samuels stroked his fifth One-Day International century as West Indies beat Bangladesh by four wickets yesterday to halt a two-game losing skid, and haul themselves back into the five-match series.
Entering the contest at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium with an embarrassing series loss hanging over their heads, West Indies limited the Tigers to 227 all out off 49.1 overs before marching to their target off 47 overs, to secure the crucial win.
Samuels, short of runs in the ODI series, returned to his best when it mattered most, carving a superb 126 from 149 balls with 17 fours and two sixes.
Samuels batted patiently while also exploiting some wayward bowling by the seamers although he had a close call on 95 and was dropped at slip.
He was particularly severe on Rubel Hossain, the right-arm seamer, who was given the 45th over, with West Indies needing 34.
Samuels punished Hossain scoring 24 runs in the over including three fours and two sixes.
His 126 is his highest score and fourth century in ODIs and is also his third century in the subcontinent.
Also, Samuels’ century is the sixth by a West Indies batsman in ODIs against Bangladesh and the highest score by a West Indies batsman against Bangladesh.
His dismissal came too late as West Indies were only six away from victory with four overs to spare.
However it was his partnership with opener Kieran Powell, in for his first match for the out-of-form Lendl Simmons, that formed the foundation for the Windies triumph after they lost prized opener Chris Gayle cheaply.
The pair put on 111 for the second wicket with the left-handed Powell getting 47 from 59 balls with four fours and a six.
The stand between Powell and Samuels is the joint highest second-wicket stand for West Indies against Bangladesh.
Keiran Powell and Darren Bravo tried to go over the top against the spinners but fell cheaply to give Bangladesh an opening.
Abdur Razzak succeeded in picking up two wickets as his quota came to an end, getting Dwayne Smith caught in the deep and bowling Kieron Pollard.
Earlier, Bangladesh had lost the top half of their batting by the 25th over with only 116 runs on the board.
However a half century stand between Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah restored some order to the innings.
Mushfiqur scored 38 before he was caught by Captain Darren Sammy from a Veerasammy Permaul delivery.
Mahmudullah top scored with 52 that included three fours and a six and was also caught by Sammy off Smith.
The re-emergence of mystery spinner Sunil Narine, after a bleak tour, played a significant role in the Windies comeback.
Narine confused the batsmen with deliveries that drifted and turned and grabbed a four-wicket haul that rekindled a faltering tour.
Before yesterday’s third one-dayer, Narine had taken only four wickets in as many matches.
However the Trinidadian stepped up to hand West Indies the initiative by capturing three wickets in nine balls.
Narine’s haul included Tamin Iqbal who edged a ball in his third over, Naeem Islam who popped a leading edge to cover and Anamul Haque trapped LBW.
Narine’s 4 for 37 is his third-best bowling performance in ODIs and the second-best bowling performance by a West Indian spinner in ODIs against Bangladesh.
Permaul finished with two wickets for 40 runs while Sammy also picked up two wickets for 46 runs.
Bangladesh now leads the five match ODI series against West Indies two games to one.
The fourth ODI is scheduled for tomorrow in Dhaka.
Scoreboard
BANGLADESH
Tamim Iqbal c wkp Thomas b Narine 22
Anamul Haque lbw b Narine 33
Naeem Islam c Pollard b Narine 4
*+Mushfiqur Rahim c Sammy b Permaul 38
Nasir Hossain c Pollard b Permaul 6
Mominul Haque c Pollard b Gayle 12
Mahmudullah c Sammy b Smith 52
Mashrafe Mortaza st Thomas b Narine 0
Sohag Gazi c Gayle b Sammy 30
Abdur Razzak c Bravo b Sammy 3
Rubel Hossain not out 1
Extras (b4, lb3, w18, nb1) 26
TOTAL (all out, 49.1 overs) 227
Fall of wickets: 1-57 (Tamim Iqbal, 12.2 overs), 2-61 (Naeem Islam, 12.4), 3-67 (Anamul Haque, 14.3), 4-78 (Nasir Hossain, 17.1), 5-110 (Mominul Haque, 22.4), 6-168 (Mushfiqur Rahim, 36), 7-171 (Mashrafe Mortaza, 38.3), 8-210 (Mahmudullah, 46), 9-225 (Abdur Razzak, 48), 10-227 (Sohag Gazi, 49.1)
Bowling: Rampaul 4-0-19-0 (w1), Sammy 9.1-0-46-2 (w2), Narine 10-0-37-4 (w2, nb1), Permaul 10-0-40-2 (w1), Gayle 10-1-36-1 (w7), Pollard 2-0-21-0 (w1), Smith 3-0-14-1, Samuels 1-0-7-0.
WEST INDIES
C Gayle c wkp Mushfiqur Rahim b Mashrafe Mortaza 4
K Powell st Mushfiqur Rahim b Mahmudullah 47
M Samuels c Mahmudullah b Mashrafe Mortaza 126
D Bravo c Sohag Gazi b Naeem Islam 13
D Smith c Naeem Islam b Abdur Razzak 4
K Pollard b Abdur Razzak 1
+D Thomas not out 12
*D Sammy not out 1
Extras (lb9, w11) 20
TOTAL (6 wkts, 47 overs) 228
Did not bat: V Permaul, S Narine, R Rampaul.
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Gayle, 4 overs), 2-126 (Powell, 26.3), 3-158 (Bravo, 33.4), 4-171 (Smith, 37.4), 5-182 (Pollard, 39.5), 6-222 (Samuels, 46.1)
Bowling: Sohag Gazi 9-1-36-0 (w2), Mashrafe Mortaza 6-0-34-2, Rubel Hossain 5-0-42-0 (w1), Abdur Razzak 10-0-34-2, Mahmudullah 9-0-43-1 (w4), Naeem Islam 5-1-21-1, Mominul Haque 3-0-9-0.
Result: West Indies won by four wickets.
Series: Bangladesh lead five-match series 2-1.
Man-of-the-Match: Marlon Samuels.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: Enamul Haque, Ranmore Martinesz; TV – Anisur Rahman.