Powell, King fifties see Windies reach 193 for 5
Bangladesh brought in pacer Taskin Ahmed in place of spinner Nasum Ahmed but did not find enough bite in the surface as Windies batters, in particular opener Brandon King and Rovman Powell put him to the sword. Shoriful Islam and Mustafizur Rahman fared better in the end overs but Windies put on a very challenging score of 193 for five.
The spinners did not get much purchase either but taking the Windies batters at least had to force the issue against spin.
The signs were ominous for the Tigers when Kyle Mayers took on Taskin in the very first over. He drove Taskin fiercely through the offside to open his account before getting one over the ropes at long off.
Bangladesh breathed a sigh of relief when Mayers went for a wild heave across the line and saw his stumps disturbed by Mahedi Hasan's delivery in the second over to depart for 17 off 9 deliveries.
Shakib sent back Shamarh Brooks for naught in the fourth over as the opener played across the line and chipped it to mid-wicket for an easy catch.
King, who looked solid, drove well on the up and started picking up the scoring-rate with in-form Nicholas Pooran at the other end. The duo starred in a 74-run stand for the third-wicket before Pooran departed leg-before trying to reverse-sweep a Mosaddek Hossain delivery.
From that point on, it was the Rovman Powell show after Windies reached 119 for 2 in 15 overs. Powell spoiled Shakib's bowling figures, hitting him for three sixes and a four as the left-arm spinner conceded 23 in his final over to finish with 38 for 1. Next over, he powered Taskin's 140km/h-odd deliveries for two sixes, the pace helping his cause.
Shoriful Islam learned from Windies' treatment of Taskin that he would do well to take pace off deliveries. King departed to Shoriful in the 18th over, unable to fully get power behind the ball and being caught at long off after a 43-ball 57, laced with seven fours and a six.
Powell reached his fifty off 20 deliveries but the two left-arm pacers Mustafizur and Shoriful did not let Powell get under the deliveries in the same way as Taskin. Shoriful picked up his second wicket with the scalp of Romario Shepard in the last over. As the rain was coming down, Powell hit another massive six off the last delivery of the innings to finish with 61 off 29 deliveries, hitting two fours and six sixes during his knock.
The pacers all remained on the expensive side with Taskin going for 46 in three overs. Mustafizur went wicketless but did relatively well in the latter part of the innings to go for 37 in four overs while Shoriful ended with two wickets for 40 runs.
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