Razzak, Shakib lead Bangladesh to 1-0 lead

By pratik
for Cricketain.com

Published: July 27, 2009

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Rahul Bajaj

Roseau, Dominica: Shakib Al Hasan once again led from the front and along with Abdur Razzak sealed the win for Bangladesh in the 1^st one dayer against West Indies. Bangladesh won the opening one dayer of the series by 52 runs.

Razzak, who was barred from bowling in international cricket due to a suspect bowling action, made a triumphant return by picking up 4 wickets for just 39 runs as he helped Bangladesh defend a modest target of 247. Razzak opened the bowling for the tigers and succeeded in pushing back West Indies early in the chase by picking up the wicket of Richards.

“I was not surprised when the captain gave me the new ball, especially the way the pitches have been playing in the Caribbean during this series,” said Razzak.

“When I played in the Caribbean in the 2007 World Cup, I also used the new ball, so it’s normal. But this was important for me. I was out of the team for eight months, and now I am back in the side, I am looking to do well.”

Shakib Al Hasan once again proved that he is one of the emerging all-rounders in World cricket by giving a brilliant performance with the bat when Bangladesh needed it the most. He made 54 of just 60 balls. And then he came back with to pick up 1-26 of 8 overs with the ball.

Earlier, Bangladesh, sent in to bat, could only manage to put up 246 on the board for the loss of 9 wickets from their allocated 50 overs. Mohammad Ashraful top scored for the tigers with 57 and Shakib Al Hasan made a fluent 54 to lead Bangladesh to a respectable score despite Kemar Roach’s career best performance of 5-44.

But Razzak, who did not play in his team’s successful Test series, gave Bangladesh the much needed boost, when he trapped West Indies opener Dale Richards lbw for one in the second over.

Bangladesh continued to build the pressure, particularly with their spin bowlers operating from very early, and West Indies slumped to 42 for four in the 12th over.

Devon Smith and Dave Bernard Jr then put together a handy partnership of 78 runs for the 5^th wicket to put West Indies back in the game but Shakib Al Hasan made the breakthrough when needed by trapping Smith lbw for 65.

Just 3 overs later, Naeem Islam got Bernard caught at mid-wicket for 38 and West Indies slumped to 130 for 6.

Rawl Lewis and Darren Sammy did try to put up some resistance with a stand of 41 for the seventh wicket but the game was always slipping away from their hands. And once Lewis was bowled by Rubel Hossain for 21 in the 40^th over, the game was almost over for the West Indies.

The rest of the tail couldn’t put up any fight and West Indies were bowled out for 194 in just 43.4 overs. Their inability to bat out the entire quota of 50 overs probably playing a big part in their loss.

For Bangladesh, Razzak returned with figures of 4-39 of 9.4 overs while Shakib was the most economical conceding just 26 runs of his 8 overs and also picking up the important wicket of Devon Smith.

“We lost the game with our batting,” said West Indies captain Floyd Reifer.

“We didn’t get the start we wanted from the top, and this is something that is worrying us at the moment. We are not getting enough partnerships at the top of the innings. We are quite happy with the balance of the team,” he added.

Shakib said, “We were always confident with the final total we posted because we knew the pitch was playing a little slowly and we had four spinners in our side.”

“I have been surprised by the nature of the pitches in the Caribbean. I thought they would have had more bounce and pace. But it suited our spinners, and [on Sunday], Razzak came back into the side, bowled well, and did a good job for us,” he added.

The victory gives Bangladesh a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with the second ODI scheduled for the same venue on Tuesday and the final ODI on Friday at Warner Park in St. Kitts.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh 246 for 9 (Ashraful 57, Shakib 54, Roach 5-44) beat

West Indies 194 (Smith 65, Razzak 4-39) by 52 runs.

Man of the Match: Abdur Razzak.

Tagged with: 2007 World Cup, Abdur Razzak, Bangladesh, Dale Richards, Darren Sammy, Dave Bernard Jr., Devon Smith, Floyd Reifer, Kemar Roach, Mohammad Ashraful, Naeem Islam, Rawl Lewis, Rubel Hossain, Shakib al hasan, West Indies

2 Comments on "Razzak, Shakib lead Bangladesh to 1-0 lead"

stuart on Thu, 8th Apr 2010 6:37 pm

You have tested it and writing form your personal experience or you find some information online?

redmatch on Thu, 22nd Apr 2010 11:08 am

I read a article under the same title some time ago, but this articles quality is much, much better. How you do this?

Razzak, Shakib lead Bangladesh to 1-0 lead

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