Tigers whacked by Windies in 1st T20

Sayeed Muhammad of DOT : West Indies defeated the hosts in a convincing manner to make a good start of the T20I series.
The Caribbeans registered a comprehensive 8-wicket win in Sylhet, after the Tigers folded for just 129 with one over still to go. Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first, but they continued to face batting debacle as their openers, middle-order and the lower middle-order failed to score runs as expected. Only captain Shakib Al Hasan put some resistance for Bangladesh, scoring 61 runs off 43 deliveries against a dominant West Indies attack which managed to pick up wickets at regular intervals.
Shakib’s half-century was the sole highlight of an otherwise lacklustre batting performance by the home side. Mahmudullah and Ariful Hoque were the only other batsmen to reach double figures, scoring 12 and 17 respectively.
Left-arm seamer Shannon Cottrell spearheaded the West Indies’ bowling attack, finishing with figures of 4-28 in his 4-over quota, while Keemo Paul also picked up 2 wickets for 23 runs from the same number of overs.
West Indies berthed to the target on the 11th over riding on a blistering half century by opener Shai Hope.
Hope’s 55-run knock cost just 23 deliveries, with Keemo Paul scoring 28 runs.