16 May 2004 18:14
Dwayne Smith - Man-of-the-Match
WINDIES CLINCH RARE HOME SERIES VICTORY
by Fazeer Mohammed
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ARNOS VALE, St. Vincent - A typically aggressive innings and two fine catches by Dwayne Smith highlighted a much more purposeful effort by the West Indies as they partially erased the nightmare of their narrow escape the day earlier in completing a 23-run victory over Bangladesh in a rain-affected second Cable and Wireless One-Day International today.
The result, in the match reduced to 25 overs-per-side by torrential morning showers at the Arnos Vale Playing Field, gave the Caribbean side a 2-0 lead in the three-match series and only their second one-day tournament triumph at home in the last nine competitions.
It was on the very same ground that they achieved their last success, defeating New Zealand in a thrilling encounter two years earlier to take that series 3-1.
In stark contrast to the nail-biting finish in the opening encounter, the West Indies were in firm control after Bangladesh were reduced to 39 for five after they had done a fair job in limiting the home side to 124 for seven over the reduced allotment.
The raw pace and hostility of opening bowlers Fidel Edwards and Tino Best proved too much for the tourists to handle and with Ian Bradshaw, the Man of the Match on Saturday, taking three wickets for 15 runs, victory was very much in hand for the home side even allowing for battling innings of 36 from opener Hannan Sarkar and an unbeaten 33 by all-rounder Manjural Islam Rana.
But it was Smith who took the honours and lifted the mood of the loyal fans on a heavily overcast day that always seemed to threaten more showers.
Capitalising on a missed return catch to Rana when on 25, the hard-hitting Barbadian right-hander smashed two sixes and two fours in an unbeaten 62 - his first ODI half-century - that proved vital as wickets were lost regularly at the other end.
Smith was also at his brilliant best in the field, diving to his right at backward-point to snare Mohammad Ashraful off Edwards and give the West Indies the early breakthrough in the third over.
He then killed off any hopes Bangladesh had of pushing the West Indies to the wire when he completed a fine running catch at deep cover to remove Sarkar off Bradshaw and ended a 32-run sixth-wicket partnership with Rana.
Put in on another turgid pitch that made fluent strokemaking difficult, the West Indies struggled to develop any real momentum, losing Chris Gayle for just seven as he tugged a short delivery from Mushfiqur Rahman to skipper Habibul Bashar at mid-on.
Opening partner Ricardo Powell got to 20 and Shivnarine Chanderpaul reached ten but neither managed to collar the disciplined bowling of the Bangladeshis.
They did not concede a single wide or no-ball and despite the urgency of Smith, medium-pacer Tapash Baisya cashed in on the frantic chase for runs in the final overs, finishing with his best figures of four for 16.
Denied by a last-wicket partnership on the previous day, the touring side certainly believed they could make amends in chasing 125.
But that all changed in the midst of the speed of Edwards and Best.
After removing Ashraful, Edwards then accounted for Bashar to a leg-side catch to wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs.
Bradshaw and Dwayne Bravo claimed wickets in their first overs and with Best disposing of Alok Kapali, Bangladesh needed a minor miracle at 39 for five in the 12th over.
They never gave up in what seemed increasingly as a lost cause but lacked the depth and authority in their lower-order batting to give the West Indies any really nervous moments and finished at 101 for eight.
The teams now travel to Grenada for the final match on Wednesday with the series already settled.
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