A brilliant unbeaten century from allrounder Shakib Al Hasan steered Bangladesh to a commanding seven-wicket victory over the West Indies at Taunton on Monday, a result which means the regional side will now be hardpressed make it to the next phase of the 2019 ICC World Cup.
Al Hasan hit a masterful 124 not out and had an able partner in Liton Das as Bangladesh, chasing a record 322 for victory, got there with almost 10 overs to spare. This was the second highest run chase in World Cup history
Al Hasan's innings included 16 fours and came off 99 balls but he was aided by some poor Windies bowling and out fielding on the day. He and Das, who hit 90 including eight fours and four sixes, hit the Windies bowlers to all parts of the ground as they shared in a 189-run partnership in just 22.3 overs.
Bangladesh's second win pushed them to fifth on the 10-team table with five points, while the West Indies dropped to seventh with three. Australia still leads the table with eight points followed by New Zealand and India, both with seven points and England with six.
Earlier, a steady hand by Hope and a quickfire half-century from Hetmyer helped the West Indies raise their biggest total so far in the tournament despite the failure of both veteran opener Chris Gayle and all-rounder Andre Russell, who both failed to trouble the scorer.
Hope played an anchor role in amassing 96 off 121 balls with just four fours and a six. More importantly, he shared in a 116-run partnership with opener Evin Lewis, who finally came good with a 67-ball 70, after Gayle's departure and watch Hetmyer muscle the Bangladesh bowlers around, including the longest six of the tournament, to set a good foundation.
But Hope slowed considerably in his 90s and eventually skied a catch toLinton Das at deep backward square in the 46th over to give Mustafizur Rahman his third wicket. As it turned out, his innings was not enough.
Mohammad Saifuddin (3/73) also took three wickets, including those of Gayle and Darren Bravo off the last ball of the innings.
West Indies 321-8 (Shai Hope 96, Evin Lewis 70, Shimron Hetmyer 50, Mohammad Saifuddin 3/72, Mustafizur Rahman 3/59) v Bangladesh 322-3 (Shakib Al Hasan 124*, Liton Das 90*)
Result: Bangladesh won by 7 wickets