1st ODI: Bangladesh beat West Indies by 5 wickets
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 their batsmen comfortably chased 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.
The platform was set by Mortaza, who ran through West Indies top order and bowled with tight line and length to make it difficult for the visitors.
After captain Rovman Powell won the toss and opted to bat first, left-arm spinner Shakib Hasan (1-36) secured the initial breakthrough, removing Keiran 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 match in two years, survived twice, before Tamim Iqbal held a difficult catch to give Mortaza his first wicket on his 200th match, 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.
The defining wicket of the match was Hope's as Mortaza had him caught by Mehidy Hasan at point. Hope's 51-ball innings included three boundaries.
Offspinner Mehidy (1-30) then compounded the visitors' pain by getting 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 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, Mustafizur Rahman ended Chase's vigilance when he was on 32 off 38 balls.
Paul then took charge and was key in helping West Indies take 66 runs in the last 10 overs but Mustafizur took two wickets in the last over, to deny West Indies going past 200.
In pursuit of the tricky total, Bangladesh had far from an ideal start.
Coming off a long injury lay-off, opener Tamim Iqbal was foxed by an offspinner Roston 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 to keep the side aloft but Das too 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 when West Indies appeared to be the control of the game.
West Indies bowlers dismissed Shakib and Soumya Sarkar (19) in quick succession but Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah (14 not out) finished the job and secured a 1-0 lead.
The second match is on Tuesday.
