Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk:After Anamul Haque gave his wicket away cheaply, Bangladesh’s dependable left-arm opener Tamim Iqbal went on to score a third consecutive half-century in the series to put the Tigers in a commanding position in the game.
Before Shakib Al Hasan got dismissed by top edging a ball to the deep square fielder, he had put on an 81 run partnership with Tamim for the second wicket. After the end of the 27 overs, the Tigers continue to bat on for 119 for the loss of two wickets as Mushfiqur Rahim joins Tamim on the crease who’s batting on 62 off 82 balls.
Bangladesh got off to steady start as the Tigers managed to score 37 runs for the loss of one wicket after the end of 10 overs. Anamul gave an easy catch into the hands of the fielder at mid-on as he attempted to play a rather ordinary hook shot off a Jason Holder delivery.
Earlier, Bangladesh had won the toss and decided to bat first in the final ODI of the series with the Tigers starting with the same eleven that featured in the previous two games. However, West Indies have made two changes. Kieran Powell and Sheldon Cottrell have come in for Jason Mohammed and Alzarri Joseph.
After bouncing back from a disastrous 2-match Test series defeat with a 48-run win in the first ODI, Bangladesh missed a golden opportunity to ensure a series win against West Indies as the Tigers stumbled to a 3-run defeat in the second ODI in Guyana last Wednesday. Bangladesh will yet again feel the pressure as the Tigers face a confident West Indies side in the third and series deciding tie at Warner Park in St Kitts today.
In a game that is a must-win for both the sides in order to win the series, Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim will be eyeing for a milestone as he only needs 20 runs to cross Alec Stewart as the sixth highest run-getter as a wicketkeeper in all formats of international cricket.
West Indies all-rounder Andre Russel, who featured in Windies’ loss to Bangladesh in the first ODI on Sunday, was earlier ruled out of the final match against Bangladesh due to a knee injury.
Bangladesh have so far won two ODI series against West Indies — the most recent came at home in 2012 with the Tigers clinching the five-match series 3-2 while the first one came in 2009 against a rather weak West Indies side in the Caribbean.
The starting lineups of both the teams for the final ODI of the series are as follows:
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Kieran Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (capt), Rovman Powell, Devendra Bishoo, Keemo Paul, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah Riyad, Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman
