ST.GEORGE’S, Grenada, Aug 20, CMC –A century stand between Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin rescued an imploding West Indies and spurred them to a three wicket win over Bangladesh in the first One Day International (ODI) at the National Stadium here on Wednesday.
Pollard and Ramdin compiled 145 runs for the 6th wicket to pull the homeside from the jaws of defeat following a top order batting collapse which left them reeling on 34 for five.
Pollard started slowly but accelerated his innings later to finish with a top score of 89 while Ramdin scored 74, starting quickly but curbing his enthusiasm later in the innings.
After their impressive counter attack the two batsmen perished in the dying stages of the chase to give Bangladesh a chance to make a come-back.
Jason Holder hit three fours to reach 22 and kept his nerve with Sunil Narine to ensure West Indies take a one-nil lead in the three-match ODI series.
Al-Amin Hossain, who finished with 4-51, snatched three early wickets as the Caribbean side slumped to 20-3, chasing the visitors’ 217 for nine.
All the top order batsmen were dismissed cheaply, Chris Gayle scoring 3, Kirk Edwards 10, Darren Bravo 7 and Lendl Simmons 0.
But the efforts of the two Trinidadians were vital in guiding West Indies to their win by forcing Bangladesh to concede a match winning position.
Pollard struck five fours and six sixes facing 70 balls while Ramdin, who faced 76 balls, accounted for six fours and a six to transform the match and carry West Indies to the brink of victory before the partnership expired.
A brief rain delay may have interfered with the flow of the partnership with Ramdin departing shortly after, playing on to the base of his off stump.
Less than three overs later Pollard’s whirlwind innings ended as he mistimed a shot aimed for over the long on boundary and was caught.
Earlier, Bangladesh opener Anamul Haque reached his third ODI century to guide his team to a competitive total.
His knock came off 133 balls with nine fours and one six after West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo won the toss and asked Bangladesh to bat first.
Haque held the innings together, but was alone as wickets fell regularly with West Indies skipper Dwayne Bravo taking four for 32 runs in his seven overs.
He and Nasir Hossain scraped together 53 runs for the sixth wicket, Hossain contributing 22, the same score as opener Tamim Iqbal.
The second ODI between West Indies and Bangladesh is also scheduled for the national stadium in Grenada tomorrow.
Scoreboard
BANGLADESH innings
Tamim Iqbal c Pollard b Holder 26
Anamul Haque lbw b DJ Bravo 109
Imrul Kayes
run out (Simmons/†Ramdin) 9
Shamsur Rahman c
†Ramdin b DJ Bravo 8
Mushfiqur Rahim*†
c Narine b Gayle 12
Mahmudullah b DJ Bravo 11
Nasir Hossain c
†Ramdin b Rampaul 26
Sohag Gazi run out
(Gayle/Rampaul) 2
Mashrafe Mortaza
c Pollard b DJ Bravo 3
Taskin Ahmed not out 0 Extras
(lb 2, w 8, nb 1) 11
Total (9 wickets; 50 overs) 217
Did not bat: Al-Amin Hossain
Fall of wickets 1-41 (Tamim Iqbal), 2-69 (Imrul Kayes), 3-80 (Shamsur Rahman), 4-117 (Mushfiqur Rahim), 5-141 (Mahmudullah), 6-194 (Nasir Hossain), 7-201 (Sohag Gazi), 8-217 (Mashrafe Mortaza), 9-217 (Anamul Haque)
Bowling: Roach 10-0-48-0, Rampaul 10-1-48-1, Holder 9-0-39-1, DJ Bravo 7-0-32-4, Narine 10-1-29-0, Gayle 4-0-19-1.
WEST INDIES innings
C Gayle c Al-Amin Hossain
b Mashrafe Mortaza 3
K Edwards b Mahmudullah 10
D Bravo c †Mushfiqur Rahim
b Al-Amin Hossain 7
L Simmons c †Mushfiqur Rahim
b Al-Amin Hossain 0
D Ramdin† b Sohag Gazi 74
DJ Bravo* c Sohag Gazi
b Al-Amin Hossain 5
K Pollard c Mahmudullah
b Al-Amin Hossain 89
J Holder not out 22
S Narine not out 3
Extras
(lb 1, w 5) 6
Total (7 wickets; 39.4 overs) 219
Did not bat: R Rampaul, K Roach
Fall of wickets 1-9 (Gayle), 2-20 (DM Bravo), 3-20 (Edwards), 4-22 (Simmons), 5-34 (DJ Bravo), 6-179 (Ramdin), 7-201 (Pollard)
Bowling: Gazi 9-1-46-1, Mortaza 8-2-22-1, Mahmudullah 4-0-20-1, Al-Amin Hossain 8.4-0-51-4, Ahmed 7-0- 46-0, Nasir Hossain 2-0-20-0, Shamsur Rahman 1-0-13-0.
Toss – West Indies, who chose to field
Series – West Indies led the 3-match series 1-0
Player of the match – KA Pollard (West Indies)
Umpires – Richard Kettleborough (England) and Joel Wilson
TV umpire – Aleem Dar (Pakistan)
