Bangladesh tour of West Indies 2009

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Fixtures

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Bangladesh look to keep winning at newest venue

DOMINICA: Bangladesh hopes to christen international cricket''s newest venue with victories in the first three one-dayers against West Indies on Sunday at Windsor Park in Dominica.

The Tigers would have probably had low expectations prior to their arrival in the Caribbean, but fortune favoured them when the leading West Indies players chose to boycott the series.

Their replacements were no match for the Bangladeshis, who convincingly swept the two-Test series to gain the boost of confidence that their appointed captain and leading fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza set as one of their objectives.

Sadly, Mortaza played only a minor role in the Test series triumph, following a fall which aggravated a previous right knee injury, and has sidelined him for the three ODIs and the Twenty20 International to follow.

Shakib Al Hasan will lead the side as he did during the Tests, and will hope to build on his performances which led to him winning the man-of-the-series award.

"We are looking forward to the ODI series too, and we want to continue winning," said left-arm spin bowling all-rounder.

"The boys have been playing really well, and God willing, we can also win the ODI series."

Bangladesh has added left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, all-rounder Naeem Islam, and medium-fast bowler Syed Rasel for the series.

Razzak is the most experienced with 111 wickets at 27.90 in 81 ODIs and will be looking to exploit the frailty of the West Indies batsmen to spin bowling which was so apparent in the Tests.

But he will also be looking to give solid proof that his bowling action is no longer suspect, following his suspension in December last year, after playing against South Africa last November like Naeem and Rasel.

West Indies too, have recruited some troops to fortify their side, but the big names like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor and Denesh Ramdin remain absent although the players'' boycott has ended.

The players and the West Indies Cricket Board have agreed to arbitration, but the decision came after the announcement of the squad for the first two ODIs.

It is still not clear whether West Indies will start filtering the leading players back into the line-up for the last ODI or the Twenty20 match.

The first two ODIs will be staged at Windsor Park which has been significantly upgraded at a cost of $20.85 million, and allows Dominica to host its first international matches.

The ground, which was levelled out of a rubbish dump a couple decades ago, now accommodates state-of-the-art facilities featuring 10,000 seats and was a gift from China at the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations.

The series concludes Friday next week at Warner Park in St Kitts, which also stages a Twenty20 International between the two sides two days later.

Squads:
West Indies: Floyd Reifer (captain), Darren Sammy, Dave Bernard Jr, Travis Dowlin, Andre Fletcher, Rawl Lewis, Nikita Miller, Nelon Pascal, Kieran Powell, Dale Richards, Kemar Roach, Devon Smith, Devon Thomas, Gavin Tonge.

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Abdur Razzak, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Mahbubul Alam, Mahmudullah, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Naeem Islam, Raqibul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Syed Rasel, Tamim Iqbal.

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ODI series between WI and BD begins today

DOMINICA: The three-match One-day International series between the West Indies and Bangladesh is beginning from today here at the Windsor Park while the hosts will play without their many senior players including captain Chris Gayle.

Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Denesh Ramdin and Jerome Taylor had boycotted the Test series in protest after a financial row with the West Indian cricket board.

However, they apologized before the One-day series but the board has decided to give one more chance to the new players.

Thus, Bangladesh under Shakibul Hasan will take a weaker West Indies side also in the ODI series after beating them in Test series.

The other two one-dayers will be played on July 28 and 31.

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Ashraful, Shakib lead Bangladesh to 246-9

ROSEAU: Mohammad Ashraful top-scored with 57 and Shakib Al Hasan stroked 54 as Bangladesh made 246 for nine from their 50 overs in the first one-day international against West Indies on Sunday.

Ashraful held the Tigers'' top-order together, and when he was dismissed, Shakib kept his nerve to take advantage of the power play in the closing overs to help Bangladesh post their highest total in 14 ODIs against West Indies as Windsor Park become cricket''s latest international venue.

Bangladesh recovered from the worst possible start, when Tamim Iqbal was caught behind to become the first of a career-best five wickets for 44 runs from 10 overs for West Indies bowler Kemar Roach.

But Ashraful added 74 for the second wicket with Junaid Siddique before he was run out in the 31st over to leave Bangladesh 128 for four.

The former Bangladesh captain had reached his 50 from 83 balls with a single to mid-on off left-arm spinner Nikita Miller in the 29th over.

Shakib however, took over from Ashraful in the latter stages of the innings and he put on 79 for the sixth wicket with Mahmudullah.

Shakib lofted Miller to the long-on boundary for his third four in the 47th over to reach his 50 from 57 balls, but Mahmudullah was caught at backward point off Miller three balls later.

This triggered a late collapse which saw four wickets fall for 22 runs, as Roach mopped up the tail.

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Controversial Razzak makes winning BD return

ROSEAU: Abdur Razzak made a triumphant return to the Bangladesh side when he helped the Tigers win the opening one-day international against West Indies by 52 runs on Sunday.

Razzak, who was prevented from bowling in international cricket in December 2008 due to a suspect action before having his suspension lifted in March, opened the bowling and took four wickets for 39 runs as Bangladesh defended a target of 247 at international cricket''s newest venue of Windsor Park.

"I was not surprised when the captain gave me the new ball, especially the way the pitches have been playing in the Caribbean during this series," said Razzak.

"When I played in the Caribbean in the 2007 World Cup, I also used the new ball, so it''s normal.

"But this was important for me. I was out of the team for eight months, and now I am back in the side, I am looking to do well."

The victory gives Bangladesh a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with the second ODI scheduled for the same venue on Tuesday, and the final ODI on Friday at Warner Park in St. Kitts.

Razzak again exposed the West Indies'' frailty to spin bowling, after Bangladesh, sent in to bat, were restricted to 246 for nine from their allocation of 50 overs.

Mohammad Ashraful hit the top score of 57 and captain Shakib Al Hasan stroked 54 to lead the Bangladesh batting, despite Kemar Roach taking a career-best five wickets for 44 runs.

But Razzak, who did not play in his team''s successful Test series, then gave Bangladesh a boost, when he trapped West Indies opener Dale Richards lbw for one in the second over.

Bangladesh continued to build the pressure, particularly with their spin bowlers operating from very early, and West Indies slumped to 42 for four in the 12th over.

Devon Smith and Dave Bernard Jr added 78 for the fifth wicket to stabilise West Indies. But Shakib, bowling his left-arm spin, made the breakthrough in the 29th over, when he trapped Smith lbw for the top score of 65.

Naeem Islam scalped Bernard caught at deep mid-wicket for 38 three overs later to leave West Indies 130 for six.

Rawl Lewis then put on 41 with Darren Sammy for the seventh wicket before Rubel Hossain bowled him for 21 in the 40th over.

Bangladesh found little or no resistance from the remaining West Indies batsmen, although Sammy got 28 before Razzak trapped him lbw in the 42nd over.

"We lost the game with our batting," said West Indies captain Floyd Reifer.

"We didn''t get the start we wanted from the top, and this is something that is worrying us at the moment.

"We are not getting enough partnerships at the top of the innings. We are quite happy with the balance of the team."

Earlier, Ashraful held the Tigers'' top-order together, and when he was dismissed, Shakib kept his nerve to take advantage of the powerplay in the closing overs to help Bangladesh post their highest total against West Indies.

Shakib said: "We were always confident with the final total we posted because we knew the pitch was playing a little slowly and we had four spinners in our side.

"I have been surprised by the nature of the pitches in the Caribbean. I thought they would have had more bounce and pace. But it suited our spinners, and [on Sunday], Razzak came back into the side, bowled well, and did a good job for us."

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WI and BD face each other in 2nd ODI today

DOMINICA: The second One-day International of the three-match series between the West Indies and Bangladesh will be played today in Dominica.

The tourists are leading the series 1-0 after they defeated the hosts by 52 runs in the first ODI on Sunday.

West Indies captain Floyd Reifer is not worried for absence of senior players in the team but he is disappointed with poor performance of his top-order batsmen in One-day cricket also after the Test series.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan is confident to wrap up the series after winning today’s match.

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Windies elect to bat vs Bangladesh in 2nd ODI

DOMINICA: West Indies started their bid to avoid what would be a first series loss to Bangladesh by winning the toss and electing to bat first on a square that the Bangladesh spinners found home-like in the first match.

West Indies made two changes to the side that lost day before yesterday, dropping Nikita Miller and Nelon Pascal, who went for 79 runs in their 13 wicketless overs. Andre Fletcher gets to concentrate solely on batting as the specialist wicketkeeper, Devon Thomas, comes in. Also getting a debut was medium-pacer Gavin Tonge.

Bangladesh, as expected, fielded an unchanged XI.

West Indies: 1 Devon Smith, 2 Andre Fletcher, 3 Travis Dowlin, 4 David Bernard, 5 Floyd Reifer (capt.), 6 Devon Thomas (wk), 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Rawl Lewis, 9 Nikita Miller, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Gavin Tonge.

Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Junaid Siddique, 3 Mohammad Ashraful, 4 Raqibul Hasan, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt.), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Syed Rasel, 11 Rubel Hossain.

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Bangladesh win ODI series over West Indies

DOMINICA: Bangladesh claimed their first one-day series success over a current test-playing nation with a three-wicket victory over West Indies on Tuesday to secure a 2-0 lead with one match remaining.

The triumph adds to the successful tour of the Caribbean for the Tigers who have also enjoyed their first test series win overseas.

Travis Dowlin struck his maiden international century as the weakened West Indies side racked up an impressive 274 for six in their 50 overs.

Bangladesh had never chased down such a total in any of their previous 199 ODI games but once again skipper Shakib Al Hasan produced a match-winning performance.

Al Hasan (65) and Mohammad Ashraful (64) put on 74 for the fourth wicket in just 10.3 overs - a partnership that turned the match in Bangladesh''s direction.

Al Hasan was fortunate to survive though when he brought up his 50 with a skied shot which was dropped by Darren Sammy as he collided with team-mate Dave Bernard in the deep.

The pair were both injured in the incident and more trouble was to come for West Indies when their main strike bowler, Kemar Roach, bowled a second ''beamer'' and was barred from bowling by the umpire.

With no obvious sixth bowler in the team, wicket-keeper Devon Thomas took off his pads and bowled the final ball of Roach''s over.

Mushfiqur Rahim''s 31 in 30 balls took the tourists close to the target helped along by some abysmal work from West Indies in the field.

There was some joy for Thomas though as the keeper turned seamer picked up two wickets but by then Bangladesh were effectively home.

Despite the end of strike action from their leading players, West Indies selectors had chosen to stick with the back-up squad they had originally selected for the series.

The ODI series ends with the final game in St.Kitts on Friday before the tour is completed with a Twenty20 game at the same venue on Sunday.

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Twenty20 between WI and BD to be played today

SAINT KITTS: The only Twenty20 International between the West Indies and Bangladesh will be played here today.

After making clean sweeps both in Test and One-day International series, Bangladesh are also desirous of winning the Twenty20 match.

The tourists, captained by Shakib Al Hasan, have made their tour a success by defeating a rather weaker team of the West Indies by 2-0 in Test series and 3-0 in ODI series.

West Indies captain Floyd Reifer said that his team can avoid the complete clean sweep by winning the Twenty20 match.

On the other hand, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan expressed hope to be successful in making the complete clean sweep by winning the T20 match.

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