It went so quiet in the rest of Warner Park that you could clearly hear the Bangladesh dressing room celebrating their first away ODI series win in nine years. West Indies fought till the end, but ultimately went down by 18 runs in a contest that was decided by the side with fewer mistakes and more nerve. The 2-1 series win comes on the back of an ordinary Test series, but the visitors once again showed that ODIs remain their preferred format. It is also Bangladesh’s second ODI series win in West Indies, and their third overall against them. West Indies though. remain without a series win for four years now, and much of the defeat fell at their feet in Basseterre.
Rovman Powell’s unbeaten 41-ball 74 that included five fours and four sixes, was the only thing that stood between Bangladesh and an easier win, but he too fizzled out in the last two overs, hitting only one six. He had little support at the other end, with Shai Hope taking up 94 balls to make 64, which is likely to remain a talking point across the Caribbean.
But Bangladesh had no such problems when they batted. Tamim Iqbal’s 103 came off 124 with seven fours and two sixes, which set up the last 10 overs for Mahmudullah, whose unbeaten 49-ball 67 got the visitors to a 300-plus total. He added 53 runs for the fifth wicket with captain Mashrafe Mortaza, who promoted himself to No. 6 for the first time in 10 years and made a crucial 25-ball 36.
Summarized scores: Bangladesh 301 for 6 (Tamim 103, Mahmudullah 67*) beat West Indies 283 for 6 (Rovman 74*, Gayle 73, Hope 64) by 18 runs