Guyana, Jul 14, 2022, IANS

Guyana, July 14 (IANS) Spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nasum Ahmed combined for seven wickets as Bangladesh eased past West Indies to register a series victory in Guyana.

Bangladesh cruised to their biggest win away from home, making short work of the 109-run chase to close out the One-Day International series against the West Indies.

The clinical nine-wicket win gave the visitors an unassailable 2-0 lead with one game to play. Bangladesh have now won six of their last seven bilateral ODI series.

While this calendar year has been quite bleak for Bangladesh, their form in 50-over cricket has actually been very decent as they have now clinched three consecutive series victories.

Recent series triumphs over Afghanistan and South Africa showed Bangladesh fancy their chances against any opponent in 50-over cricket and their efforts against West Indies so far only further strengthen this argument.

White-ball 50-over matches give Bangladesh's bevy of quality spinners the chance to shine and it was once again their slower bowlers that stood out during their crushing nine-wicket win against West Indies on Wednesday.

Despite the absence of veteran tweaker Shakib Al Hasan, spin duo Mehidy Hasan Miraz (4/29) and Nasum Ahmed (3/19) combined for seven wickets in Guyana to ensure West Indies could only muster a disappointing total of 108 after they were sent in to bat by Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal.

While pacer Mosaddek Hossain (1/37) made the initial breakthrough, it was Nasum that gave the visitors the ascendancy by dismissing Shamarh Brooks, Shai Hope and then picking up the key wicket of Nicholas Pooran as the hosts slumped to 45/4 after 18 overs.

There was no way back for a lacklustre West Indies side, with Mehidy ripping through the tail in quick succession to leave Bangladesh chasing just 109 for the victory.

That victory target was never in doubt, with Tamim leading from the front in reply with a stylish half-century that allowed Bangladesh to cruise home with more than 29 overs to spare.

Gudakesh Motie (1/39) picked up the sole wicket for West Indies when he had Najmul Hossain Shanto caught for 20, but experienced batter Liton Das (32 not out) joined Tamim to guide the run chase home.

After disappointing performances during the Test and T20 portions of the tour, this series triumph was exactly what Bangladesh needed to provide them with some confidence ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup later this year.

Brief scores: West Indies108 in 35 overs (Keemo Paul 25 not out; Mehidy Hasan 4-29, Nasum Ahmed 3-19) lost to Bangladesh 112/1 in 20.4 overs (Tamim Iqbal 50 not out, Liton Das 32 not out) by 9 wickets.