Bangladesh's hope of making it to the quarter final suffered a big blow when they suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the West Indies. Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat on a pitch they were so familiar with. But a superior bowling display from the West Indians saw Bangladesh crash to their lowest ever World Cup score after they were bowled out for 58 in 18.5 overs.
Sulieman Benn, Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy brushed aside the Bangladeshi batting lineup in just 19 overs. Roach was the first one to cause the damage when he claimed the wicket of the dangerous Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal for a golden duck in the first over. Iqbal edged a quick delivery from Roach to second slip where Darren Sammy accepted a simple catch.
Another top order batsman to depart without opening his account was Mushfiqur Rahim who departed in the sixth over after he lofted the first ball of Sammy's over straight to Ramnaresh Sarwan at short mid-wicket. This was just after opener Imrul Kayes (5) had nicked one from Sammy to Thomas in the 4th over and Bangladesh were now reeling at 25-3.
From there on, things turned real ugly as Bangladesh's sole hope Junaid Siddique (24) was caught LBW by Roach in the 9th over. Once Siddique got out, the Bangladeshi innings folded in a heap with the remaining batsmen making only 22 runs in about 10 overs. Bangladesh was hoping that the experience of Muhammad Ashraful would come handy in this crisis situation. But he managed to make only 11 before falling to Roach in the 18th over.
The other batmen failed to even reach double figures with Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain departing on ducks, courtesy of Benn who also dismissed the captain Shakib Al Hasan (8) and Naeem Islam (1) to finish with impressive figures of 4-18. But it was Roach's explosive bowling that won the day for West Indies and earned him the 'Man of the Match' award for his 3-19 in six overs. Sammy also claimed three wickets including that of Raqibul Hasan (4).
West Indies didn't have any trouble chasing down the paltry total of 59 . Bangladesh tried different bowling tactics to make something happen but West Indies openers Devon Smith and Chris Gayle went about their business calmly, dispatching loose deliveries to the boundaries. Bangladesh got a breakthrough in the sixth over when Devon Smith misjudged one from Naeem that spun through his defense and into his furniture. It was the only wicket Bangladesh would get as Gayle, who was joined by Darren Bravo at the crease, went on to finish the tigers in the 13th over. Gayle scored 37 from 36 balls which included six boundaries.
Brief scores: West Indies 59-1, (Gayle 37 n.o, Bravo 9 n.o; Naeem 1-14) beat Bangladesh 58 all-out in 18.5 overs (Junaid 25, Ashraful 11; Benn, 4-18) by 9 wickets with 226 balls remaining.
