WI vs BAN 2024/25, West Indies vs Bangladesh 1st T20I, Kingstown Match Report, Dec 15, 2024

Bangladesh 147 for 6 (Soumya 43, Hosein 2-13, McCoy 2-30) won West Indies 140 (Powell 60, Mahedi 4-13) by seven runs

Mahmud removed Powell and Alzarri Joseph in the final which began with West Indies needing ten runs to win. Mahmud caught Powell from behind and gave Bangladesh captain Litton Das his fifth dismissal of the match. With eight to win from the last two, Mahmud bowled Joseph for Bangladesh’s first T20I victory against the West Indies in six years; Back in Bangladesh, it was also a good way to start Victory Day in the country.

Powell the almost man

However, everything was going wrong for Bangladesh for about four overs. West Indies were 61 for 7 in the 12th over when Romario Shepherd joined captain Powell, who had hit a four and a six until then, to revive his team.

The pair combined to take 15 off Rishad Hossain in the 14th over, before Powell bowled Taskin Ahmed for three sixes in a run of 23 to reduce the ask rate from over 11 to eight in the space of 12 balls. Powell hit the first six off Taskin at extra cover, the next over point, before finishing the over with a beautiful straight hit.

Tanzim Hasan then scored 12 runs in the 16th over with Powell hitting him for two fours, one of them adding to his half-century off just 28 balls, to take the equation to 28 to win off 24 balls. There was no respite from the other end either, as Shepherd hit Rishad for his first six, although he fell in the next when Taskin trapped him at deep mid-on, for 22 off 17 balls.

Mahedi launches to the top of WI

Bangladesh started spectacularly with the ball when Taskin caught Brandon King at mid-on with his first ball. Six balls later, Mahedi lured Nicholas Pooran to charge and beat him with a straight delivery to stump him for 1. Mahedi then had Johnson Charles caught at mid-on having hit Tanzim for two sixes in a run of 25. .

Mahedi struck twice in the seventh when he had Andre Fletcher, a last-minute replacement in the team, trapped behind before Roston Chase fell inside, beating a reverse sweep. When Mahedi finished his quota of four overs of 4 for 13, Bangladesh were in control of the game until Powell broke free.

Hosein’s first attacks

On the next ball, Hosein continued Litton Das’ run of poor form since the ODIs, taking his simple return catch. It was Litton’s second consecutive duck on this tour after scoring 4 and 2 in the first two ODIs.

Bangladesh goes aerial

Shamim Hossain, playing his first T20I in 12 months, was called into action next. He edged Alzarri Joseph in his first six, before facing McCoy directly for the same score. Shamim got one more against Joseph in the 18th over, before Mahedi hit McCoy for an extra cover six over in the final over to almost take them to 150.