West Indies registered yet another nail-biting win over Bangladesh where the spinners successfully defended a mere total of 140 in Mount Maunganui on Friday.
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West Indies registered yet another nail-biting win over Bangladesh in the tournament where the spinners successfully defend a mere total of 140 in Mount Maunganui on Friday. Afy Fletcher’s 3 for 29 in the middle overs dismantled Bangladesh’s run-chase, alongside Hayley Matthews’ stunning spell of 10-1-15-4. Skipper Stafanie Taylor also chipped in with three late scalps to deny Bangladesh a win while chasing 140/9 from their 50 overs.
However, Bangladesh put up a great fight as five of their batters fell for ducks. On the other hand, five of the batters scored above 17 as well. Hayley Matthews also took five balls to make an impact, taking out Shamima Sultana in the very first over as well. By the end of her opening spell, she dismissed the set opener, Sharmin Akhter. A brief partnership between Fargana Hoque and Nigar Sultana (30) was enough to revive Bangladesh’s hopes. That’s when Afy Fletcher stepped up and removed Bangladesh’s dependable middle-order with Hoque, Rumana Ahmed and Ritu Moni as well. And, all were dismissed in the space of six balls on the same score of 60.
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Sultana and Salma Khatun then steadied the ship, finding 25 runs at a slow pace but keeping Bangladesh in the race as well. However, Taylor brought back Matthews into the attack and she provided two in a wicket-maiden over – Sultana adjudged LBW whereas Fahima Khatun bowled as well. Nahida and Salma then took Bangladesh past the 100-run mark in their stand of 25. Taylor then stepped up for West Indies, removing both Salma and Jahanara Alam to take the game to the final over where Bangladesh needed eight. But Fariha Trisna got an under edge onto her stumps, and West Indies registered the win.
Earlier in the day, spinners Nahida and Salma got off to a steady start with identical figures of 2 for 23 each to restrict West Indies to a below-par total. Despite losing Dottin early to Jahanara Alam, West Indies put up 34/1 by the end of powerplay. However, a sudden collapse ensued thereafter with left-armer Nahida removing both Matthews and Stafanie Taylor in her succeeding overs. To make things worse, Rashada Williams got out and left the team reeling at 48 for 4 at the start of the 16th over.
Shemaine Campbelle then scored with an unbeaten 53, managed to keep Bangladesh at bay as well. However, Windies slipped to 70 for 7 by the 36th over as they lost 6 for 30 before a brief period of resistance from Fletcher and Campbelle took West Indies to a respectable 140/9 while also bringing up her second half-century of the tournament as well.
Brief scores: West Indies 140/9 in 50 overs (Shemaine Campbelle 53; Nahida Akter 2-23, Salma Khatun 2-23) beat Bangladesh 136 all out in 49.3 overs (Nnahida Akter 25, Nigar Sultana 25; Hayley Matthews 4-15,Afy Fletcher 3-29, Stafanie Taylor 3-29) by 4 runs.
