Bangladesh 246 for 9 (Ashraful 57, Shakib 54, Roach 5-44) beat West Indies 194 (Smith 65, Razzak 4-39)
by 52 runs
Shakib Al Hasan, yet again, was the architect of Bangladesh’s success as he delivered a fine allround performance to lead his team to a 52-run win in the series opener in Dominica. His fighting half-century helped his team post a formidable total on a slow pitch; his tactic of opening the bowling with left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak succeeded in denting West Indies early in their chase, and his dismissal of Devon Smith helped strangle the resistance which threatened to cause an upset. Mohammad Ashraful and Mahmudullah backed the effort with important contributions while fighting through a disciplined bowling performance led by Kemar Roach’s five-for.
West Indies showed few signs of learning from their mistakes in the Test series. Inept footwork combined with poor shot selection from their batsmen produced a top-order collapse on a track favouring slow bowlers. Shakib, without hesitation, opened the bowling with Razzak, who made a successful return to international cricket after being suspended for a suspect action. Accustomed to sharing the new ball – he had opened the bowling in the 2007 World Cup – he struck with his second ball, trapping Dale Richards in front and returned to bowl Travis Dowlin, who was found cutting too close to an arm ball. Razzak stuck to a flat trajectory, varied his pace, got the ball to grip and surprised the batsmen with both turn and bounce.
The arrival of the left-handed Floyd Reifer immediately prompted another ploy from Shakib. Mahmudullah – the offspinner who had dismissed him on four occasions in the Test series – was brought on, and he soon had the West Indies captain swinging across the line to be caught at point.
West Indies had to rely on their old hand Smith, and again on Dave Bernard, who struck three half-centuries in the Test series, to stage a recovery. The pair opened up once Razzak was given a break, using their feet and opting to play the spinners straight while ensuring the strike kept rotating after the second powerplay. Smith’s workmanlike 65 included just three fours, but he pierced the field with consistency while Bernard, the more cautious of the two, was prompt to see off any quiet phase with the pressure-relieving boundary. Their stand of 78 came close to even out proceedings before Shakib made the change, bringing himself on in the 29th over to trap Smith in front while sweeping across the line. The call was marginal as it appeared to be just clipping leg, but proved decisive. Bernard scored just one run off Shakib’s next over, and holed out one ball later to put the visitors firmly in control. Though the lower order kept the crowd intrigued, stepping up the pace, Razzak hit back with two more wickets to seal the finish.