New captain Mushfiqur Rahim smashed a six off the penultimate ball to lead Bangladesh to a thrilling three-wicket victory over the West Indies in their one-off Twenty20 international on Tuesday.
Bangladesh needed six runs in the last over to achieve a modest 133-run target before wicketkeeper-batsman Rahim (41 not out) hit paceman Ravi Rampaul’s penultimate delivery over mid-wicket for a six.
The hosts were struggling at 93-6 before Rahim steadied the innings with a vital 35-run stand for the seventh wicket with debutant Nasir Hossain, who contributed a 15-ball 18.
Bangladesh required 20 runs in the last two overs, but Rahim and Hossain eased the pressure when they scored 14 in the 19th over bowled by debutant seamer Carlos Brathwaite.
Rahim, who hit two sixes in his 26-ball knock, also upstaged Marlon Samuels, who put in an impressive all-round performance for the West Indies. Samuels top-scored with a 42-ball 58 and took two key wickets with his off-spin.
Samuels removed former skipper Shakib Al Hasan for a duck and then had well-set Mohammad Ashraful (24) caught by debutant Anthony Martin to reduce the hosts to 71-5 in the 13th over.
Left-arm spinners Shakib and Abdur Razzak earlier bagged two wickets apiece as Bangladesh restricted the West Indies.
Samuels was the lone batsman to defy Bangladesh’s spin attack, but he received little support from the other end. He hit four sixes and two fours before being dismissed in the final over.
Razzak, who opened the attack, finished with 2-27, while Shakib bagged 2-25. Seamer Shafiul Islam took two wickets in the final over to finish with 2-19 off four overs.
The West Indies, put in to bat, lost their way after being comfortably placed at 61-1 in the ninth over. Their slide began with the dismissal of opener Lendl Simmons (23), trapped leg before by Razzak.
Off-spinner Naeem Islam and seamer Rubel Hossain each took one wicket.
Bangladesh and the West Indies are now scheduled to play a three-match one-day international series, starting in Dhaka today.
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