Rishad Hossain produced a mesmerising spell of spin bowling which crippled the West Indies and propeled Bangladesh to an impressive 74-run victory in the opening One Day International here on Saturday.
The leg spinner grabbed a maiden five-wicket haul, as the West Indies, after a promising start, were bundled out for 133 in 39 overs in pursuit of the home side’s total of 207 in 49.4 overs at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.
While batting last was always expected to be tricky on a pitch that offered plenty of turn for the spinners, the West Indies seemed on track to register a comfortable victory following a promising start by openers Brandon King and Alick Athanaze.
The pair started cautiously, with the first two overs bowled by pacer Taskin Ahmed and left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam, respectively, being maidens.
But King hit Taskin for a four and a six in the third over of the innings and Athanaze swept Islam for three fours and hit him for a six over long on in the ensuing over to see the West Indies race to 28 without loss after four overs.
Athanaze brought up the 50 for the West Indies in the 12th over, but it didn’t take long for Player-of-the-Match Hossain to unleash his carnage.
He began by trapping Athanaze lbw for 27 to give the home side a much-needed breakthrough.
King and Keacy Carty then shared a 28-run partnership that left the Windies comfortably positioned at 79 for one in the 20th over.
But Carty never looked settled, and it came as no surprise when he edged Hossain to slip as he tried to break the shackles with a big shot.
King looked on course for a half century until he was bamboozled by a delivery from Hossain that spun across his body and grazed the outside edge on its way through to the wicketkeeper to be out for 44, as the Windies slipped to 82 for three.
Three deliveries later and without a run added, Hossain had Sherfane Rutherford caught behind for a duck as he tried to cut a delivery that was too close to his body.
Hossain then captured his first five-wicket haul in international cricket when he had Roston Chase caught behind for six to leave the visitors tottering on 92 for five.
Skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz broke the monopoly by accounting for the wicket of Gudakesh Motie lbw and the outcome was essentially settled when captain Shai Hope edged Islam behind to be out for 15 to make the score 118 for seven in the 34th over.
Mustafizur Rahman then picked up the wickets of Romario Shepherd and Justin Greaves in quick succession, before Hossain fittingly ended the match by having last man Jayden Seales caught at slip.
Hossain ended with career best figures of 6-35 from his nine overs, while Rahman took 2-16.
Earlier, captain Shai Hope made the bewildering decision to send Bangladesh in to bat after winning the toss.
They quickly grabbed the initiative when Romario Shepherd trapped Saif Hassan lbw and Jayden Seales had Soumya Sarkar caught at backward point to leave the home side in trouble at eight for two.
However, Towhid Hridoy, who topscored with 51 and Najmul Hossain Shanto, who made 32, came to their side’s rescue in a 71-run partnership for the third wicket.
Mahidul Islam Ankon also scored a crucial knock of 46, while Hossain lashed 26 runs from 13 balls that helped Bangladesh pass the 200-mark.
Seales was the West Indies’ best bowler with 3-48, while Chase (2-30) and Greaves (2-32) provided good support.
The second ODI is scheduled to be played on Tuesday. (CMC)