Gayle seals emphatic win

West Indies overwhelmed Bangladesh by ten wickets in the fourth qualifying match in Jaipur to secure a berth in the main stage of the Champions Trophy. Their bowlers set up the victory with a disciplined performance that dismissed Bangladesh for a paltry 161 on a pitch that offered precious little assistance. Chris Gayle batted assuredly for his century while Shivnarine Chanderpaul played anchor during an unbeaten opening stand of 164.
Bangladesh went into the match needing to win to stay alive in the competition but the batsmen failed their team's cause by playing indiscreet shots. Aftab Ahmed's impish 59 was the only resistance as Bangladesh imploded in dramatic fashion after being 95 for 1 in the 20th over.
To their credit West Indies bowled tightly on a pitch that was dry, devoid of grass and bounce. Even when Jerome Taylor banged it short at 90 mph, it scarcely rose above the batsmen's chest. If anything, run-scoring became harder when the pace was taken off the ball and Marlon Samuels choked the run-flow during his spell of 2 for 27. However, it was Corey Collymore's two wickets of successive deliveries that derailed the innings and Dwayne Bravo cashed in and took 3 for 14, a miserly spell that included one of the best return catches you'll ever see to dismiss Mashrafee Mortaza.
Bangladesh began confidently in spite of losing Mohammad Ashraful early to Taylor. Shahriar Nafees cut Taylor to the fence off the first ball of the innings and thereafter anchored one end. Nafees and Aftab shared a delightful 85-run stand for the second wicket, a partnership that filled Bangladesh with hopes of 250 and beyond. Aftab's innings should have ended on 15 but Samuels dropped a simple catch at long leg. He survived a couple of edges past slips too but made exploited his luck by hooking and pulling with impunity.
Nafees had copped criticism for his slow approach against Sri Lanka - 5 off 22 balls while chasing 303. Today just as he began to show aggressive intent, he fell to an ill-timed slash outside off stump. Thus began Bangladesh's slide as they lost nine wickets for 76 runs after the second-wicket partnership. Collymore induced Saqibul Hasan to play on and with his next delivery beat Bashar for pace and hit him in front of middle. It was Bashar's second duck of the tournament.
Of all the rash shots played, the worst was Aftab's. Bangladesh had just lost three wickets in as many overs in a must-win game. Aftab was the set batsmen on 59 and in good nick. However, he chose to loft Samuels down the ground and this time his luck ran out, Shivnarine Chanderpaul took the catch on the fence and after that it was a matter of time before the remaining wickets fell.
A target of 161 was never going to challenge West Indies but a ten-wicket margin was an emphatic victory, something Brian Lara aimed to achieve before the game. Gayle began his innings slowly, played out a maiden against Mashrafe Mortaza and took 11 balls to get off the mark. Chanderpaul scored the majority of the initial runs and this spurred Gayle into action.
Mortaza and Syed Rasel caused the batsmen no alarms and Habibul Bashar was forced to bring Abdur Razzak's left-arm into the attack as early as the 12th over in a bid to break the partnership. Gayle met Razzak's first ball on the full and beat him to the cover fence. Razzak and Mohammad Rafique managed to stem the run flow but they were not penetrative. The only semblance of a chance came when Gayle tickled Rafique down leg side on 33 but Khaled Mashud did not take the catch. Gayle soon outstripped Chanderpaul, who plodded for 101 balls for his 51, and struck three mighty sixes off the spinners. He reached his 13th one-day hundred moments before West Indies reached their target. —Agencies