West Indies crush Bangladesh

Cricket World Cup co-hosts Bangladesh fold in just 18.5 overs as angry fans boo players off the pitch.

Kemar Roach
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Not a scoreboard angry home fans were particularly pleased about seeing [GALLO/GETTY]

Bangladesh players were booed off the pitch at Dhaka’s Shere Bangla National Stadium by a 25,000 strong home crowd after a humiliating nine-wicket beating at the hands of a rampant West Indian attack at the Cricket World Cup on Friday.

Shakib Al Hasan’s team imploded and were all out in just 18.5 overs, scoring their lowest ever one-day international score of 58 before falling to a nine-wicket beating. The crowd made their displeasure known by showering the outfield with torn-up placards and posters after the critical Group B loss.

The total was the lowest by a Test team in a World Cup, and the fourth lowest total in the history of the tournament.

Later angry Bangladesh fans stoned the West Indies team bus, in what police claimed was a case of mistaken identity, with fans thinking it was the home team’s vehicle.

New Zealand swept aside the challenge of underdogs Zimbabwe in Ahmadabad in the day’s first game in Group A, winning by 10 wickets. The Zimbabwean bowlers had no answer to a 166-run stand from openers Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum that took the Black Caps charging to a near-perfect victory.

Displeasure

As Shakib’s hapless men trooped off with heads kept low, fans tossed almost everything they could get their hands on – caps, placards, logos, even jerseys – to the outfield as a demonstration of their disappointment.

Bangladesh/Windies scorecard

Bangladesh innings
T Iqbal c Sammy b Roach 0
I Kayes c Thomas b Sammy 5
J Siddique lbw b Roach 25
M Rahim c Sarwan b Sammy 0
S Al Hasan b Benn 8
R Hasan c Pollard b Sammy 4
M Ashraful c Thomas b Roach 11
N Islam c Thomas b Benn 1
S Islam c Pollard b Benn 0
A Razzak not out 2
R Hossain b Benn 0
Extras: 2
Total (all out; 18.5 overs) 58
Fall of wickets: 1-0 2-16 3-25 4-36 5-41 6-51 7-56 8-56 9-58

West Indies innings
D Smith b Naeem Islam 6
C Gayle not out 37
D Bravo not out 9
Extras 7
Total (for one wicket; 12.2 overs) 59
Fall of wicket: 1-29

By the time the West Indian openers Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo returned to open the innings before their side went on to complete the formalities of the win, loud boos circulated the stadium, specially revamped for this tournament.

The Caribbean side romped to their second win of the tournament in just 12.2 overs, with Gayle making an unbeaten 37 and sit second in Group B with four points from three games, level on points with South Africa.

Those jeers were still reverberating after the match as West Indian fast bowler Kemar Roach collected a second man-of-the-match prize for his three wickets and Shakib tried to explain away the rubble of his side’s performance.

It had taken the West Indies 90 minutes to polish off the Bangladeshis with a mixture of spin and pace and Darren Sammy’s men took three-quarters of an hour to knock off their target.

Devon Smith was out for six, bowled by Naeem Islam, Gayle remained unbeaten for 37 and Bravo was nine not out.

Mystery

“We never thought we’d bat this poorly because we’ve been playing really good cricket for last the 12 months and we’ve been consistent with the bat,” Shakib said, trying to make himself heard above the din of the crowd.

“I don’t know (what went wrong). We have a lot of things to work on now. We have to sit down and think about it.

“But hopefully we’ll come back strongly as there are three more games. If we want to qualify for the second round, we have to win two out of three. It is still very much possible.”

The West Indies are now one or possibly two wins short of a spot in the quarter-finals although far tougher tests come against England, India and Ireland having won handily against Netherlands but been well beaten by South Africa.

Bangladesh now need to win back their own fans – as well as their form – in tough remaining fixtures against England, Netherlands and South Africa as the co-host’s campaign threatens to fall apart.

As Shakib wryly remarked later, it was probably all for the best that they are now playing away from the capital. 

Source: News Agencies