DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza marked his 200th ODI to claim 3-30 and help his side secure a five-wicket victory against West Indies in the three-match series opener on Sunday.
His fellow pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman ended with 3-35 as Bangladesh restricted West Indies to 195-9 on a sluggish wicket, before its batsmen comfortably chased down the target with 89 balls to spare.
Mushfiqur Rahim led the chase with a 70-ball 55 not out, hitting five fours, while opener Liton Das provided the early impetus with 41, as Bangladesh finished on 196-5 in 35.1 overs.
The platform was set by Mortaza, who ran through the West Indies top order and bowled with tight line and length to make it difficult for the visitors.
"Variations helped a lot," said man-of-the-match Mortaza. "Our bowlers bowled in right areas, they were quite disciplined. But in the last five overs, we leaked some runs.
"Liton (Das) played a nice knock, Shakib got some quick runs (30 off 26 balls), that helped a lot. But I think Mushfiqur was brilliant, very professional."
After West indies captain Rovman Powell won the toss and opted to bat first, left-arm spinner Shakib Hasan (1-36) secured the initial breakthrough, removing Kieran Powell (10) for the third straight time — having done so twice in the second test.
Opener Shai Hope stayed calm on a wicket that offered variable bounce but saw wickets tumble at the other end.
Darren Bravo, playing his first ODI match in two years, survived twice, before Tamim Iqbal held a difficult catch to give Mortaza his first wicket in his 200th game, ending Bravo's hard-fought innings on 19.
Most of the West Indies batsmen got off the mark but couldn't carry on in large part due to the Bangladesh bowlers' disciplined attack with Mortaza at the fore.
"Hopefully we can bounce back," Powell said. "We didn't bat as well as we would have liked. I think the wicket became a little easier to bat later on."
The defining wicket of the match was Hope's as Mortaza had him caught by Mehidy Hasan at point. Hope's 59-ball innings included three boundaries.
Offspinner Mehidy (1-30) then claimed in-form batsman Shimron Hetmyer (6) with a delivery that kept extremely low while fast bowler Rubel Hossain (1-61) removed Marlon Samuels (25) who perished to a rash shot.
With the West Indies on 127-6, Roston Chase and Keemo Paul (36) combined for a 51-run stand for the seventh wicket to raise the tourists' hopes. But just as the partnership was starting to look threatening, Rahman ended Chase's vigilance when he was on 32 off 38 balls.
Paul was key in helping West Indies score 66 runs in the last 10 overs but Mustafizur took two wickets in the last over to stop West Indies going past 200.
In pursuit of the tricky total, Bangladesh had far from an ideal start.
Coming off a long injury layoff, opener Iqbal was foxed by a delivery from offspinner Chase (2-47) delivery to be out on 12 while Imrul Kayes (4) was undone by the searing pace of Oshane Thomas (1-34), leaving Bangladesh at 42-2.
Rahim and Das combined for a 47-run third-wicket stand before Das played a loose shot to throw away his wicket after he smacked five boundaries.
Shakib Al Hasan made a 26-ball 30 to pace the innings.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah (14 not out) finished the job and secured a 1-0 lead.
The second match is on Tuesday.
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