Mohammed Hit For Six On Debut As ODI Captain
Jason Mohammed made a losing start as One Day International (ODI) skipper, as the depleted West Indies were demolished by six wickets in Bangladesh today (20 January).
The former Trinidad & Tobago and West Indies A team captain saw his side, which included half-a-dozen ODI debutants, whittled out for a measly 122 with Barbados’ Kyle Mayers the top-scorer with a respectable knock of 40 off 56 balls.
Mohammed’s troops were put in to bat at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in Dhaka’s Mirpur, although rain delayed play for around an hour. Left-arm medium pacer Mustafiz Rahman sent both openers – Sunil Ambris (St. Vincent) and Joshua Da Silva (Trinidad & Tobago) – cheaply back to the pavilion with the score at a shocking 24-2.
The tourists continued to stutter and reached 54-5, which included a duck from Jamaica’s Nkrumah Bonner, until Mayers and Rovman Powell (Jamaica) provided resistance with a respectable sixth-wicket partnership of 59.
Shakib Al Hasan, the 2005 International Cricket Council’s (ICC’s) no.1 all rounder in all three formats of the sport, ripped through the middle order to finish with remarkable figures of 4-8 in his first game for Bangladesh since 2019.
Left-arm spinner Shakib bounced back in style from his ICC two-year ban 2019, with one year suspended, for failing to report approaches from a bookmaker as the Windies were whittled out with a whimper.
With the tourists sporting an inexperienced line-up, which included the notable absence of regular ODI captain Kieron Pollard (Trinidad), the Windies were clearly lacking confidence and conviction.
And they continued their tepid displays with both bat and ball, all too apparent during last year’s tours to England and New Zealand, in their opening contest against Bangladesh.
Tamin Iqbal, making his debut as Bangladesh skipper following his appointment last March, led by example with a comfortable 44 off 93 balls before being stumped by Da Silva off Mohammed.
Trinidadian leg-spinner Akeal Hosein clean bowled the other opener Liton Das for 14 to mark his debut with his inaugural wicket, and was the star for the tourists to finish with 3-26 from his 10 overs.
But Bangladesh breezed to success with 97 deliveries to spare after Mushfiqur Rahim, with an unbeaten 19, registered victory with a cheeky reverse-swept shot that beat third man to reach the boundary.
The sides lock horns again in the remaining ODIs on Friday and Monday, followed by a pair of Test matches next month.
Mohammed will be expecting a vast improvement in the two ODIs, especially as the three-game series is part of the ICC World Cup Super League that determines qualification for the 2023 World Cup in India.
WI Tour schedule
20 January | 1st ODI, SBNCS, Dhaka
Bangladesh (125-4) beat WI (122 all out) by six wickets
22 January | 2nd ODI, SBNCS, Dhaka
25 January | 3rd ODI, ZACS, Chattogram
28-31 January | Four day warm-up match, M.A. Aziz Stadium, Chattogram
3-7 February | 1st Test Match, ZACS, Chattogram
11-15 February | 2nd Test Match, SBNCS, Dhaka
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