The West Indies beat Bangladesh by five wickets in the third and final T20I of the three-match series on Friday, October 31, at the Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium in Chattogram. With this win, the Windies wrapped the series up 3-0, leaving their opponents to reel. In this match, the hosts batted first and were bowled out for a moderate score of 151 in their quota of 20 overs. Opener Tanzid Hasan was the only batter who could get going for Bangladesh. He ended his innings 11 runs short of a century, being caught out for 89.
Apart from Hasan, only Saif Hassan reached double-digits and scored a 22-ball 23. None of the other Bangladeshi batters managed to trouble the Windies much and fell like a heap of cards in the middle overs, leaving most of the responsibility of scoring runs on Hasan’s shoulders. The latter excelled in his role, hitting nine boundaries and four sixes during the course of his knock. Seamer Romario Shepherd was the most successful among the Windies’ bowlers, returning with figures of 3-36 in his four overs. Alongside Shepherd, Jason Holder and Khary Pierre picked up two wickets apiece.
In response, the visitors lost opener Alick Athanaze (1) after just eight balls. Brandon King (8), who came in at number three, did not provide too much of a resistance either. It was left to wicketkeeper-opener Amir Jangoo (34) and captain Roston Chase (50) to build a partnership that took the Windies to safety. The Bangladeshi bowlers tried to come back into the game in the middle overs, but the experience of Chase and the adventurous nature of Jangoo ensured that the tourists did not face any more hiccups.
When leg-spinner Rishad Hossain caught Jangoo plumb in front of the stumps in the eighth over, Ackeem Auguste walked into the crease and took the game away from Bangladesh single-handedly. He struck five sixes and one boundary during his 25-ball stay at the crease, in which he scored an even 50.
Hossain then accounted for both Auguste and captain Chase, but Rovman Powell and Gudakesh Motie guided the West Indies to safety. They won the match by five wickets in 16.5 overs. This series win will give the former T20 world champions a lot of confidence, as they were beaten in their previous series in the same format by minnows Nepal, who are not even a Test-playing nation. Although Bangladesh had won the ODIs that preceded the T20I series, the West Indies fought back strongly to whitewash their hosts in the latter.
