Bangladesh's captain, Mohammad Ashraful (right), makes a run as West Indies bowler Fidel Edwards chases the ball during their Twenty20 World Cup match at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg yesterday. Bangladesh won by six wickets and booted the Windies out of the competition. - AP JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CMC):
THE WEST Indies were humiliated when Bangladesh completed a six-wicket victory to eliminate them from the Twenty20 World Cup yesterday.
The West Indies failed to defend a respectable target of 165 as Aftab Ahmed and Mohammad Ashraful carved up their bowling to post enterprising half-centuries and lead their side to another giant-killing win in the international game.
The West Indies' fate was sealed when Alok Kapali nudged a delivery from Ravi Rampaul through backward point for a single to give his side victory with 12 balls to spare.
Aftab was unbeaten on 62 from 49 balls, which included eight boundaries, and Ashraful scored 61 from 27 balls. They added 109 for the third wicket, as things clearly did not go exactly to the script for the West Indies.
Damp pitch
A damp pitch due to over-watering from the ground authority delayed the start by an hour, and there was obvious glee on Ashraful's face and dread on Sarwan's, when Bangladesh won the toss and chose to field.
The West Indies then saw big-hitting opener Chris Gayle depart to the third ball of the match for a duck.
They managed to recover with Devon Smith leading the way with six fours in 51 from 52 balls in a second-wicket stand of 95 with fellow left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who made 37. But it took a brutal 29 from seven balls from the enigmatic Dwayne Smith in the closing overs to give the West Indies a respectable total. Smith came to the wicket in the 17th over. He then proceeded to clobber four sixes and one four before he was bowled off the last delivery of the innings.
Saqib-ul-Hasan was the most successful Bangladesh bowler with four wickets for 34 runs from four overs, and Abdur Razzak took two for 25 from his four.
The West Indies had early success when they started their defence. Opener Nazimuddin was caught at mid-off for one in the second over off Ravi Rampaul, who added the scalp of Tamim Iqbal caught at mid-off for 10 in the fourth over.
The West Indies, however, were stunned into disbelief when Ashraful collected four boundaries in the fifth over from Daren Powell.
But the pendulum swung decisively when Fidel Edwards muffed a chance on the deep fine leg boundary after the Bangladesh captain top-edged a pull at delivery from Rampaul.
Bowled inconsistently
The West Indies continued to bowl inconsistently and field sloppily as Ashraful jammed his foot down hard on the accelerator and carried Aftab along for the ride.
When West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan - bowling his uncomplicated leg spin - finally had his opposite number caught at cover in the 15th over, Ashraful had written his name in the history books for the fastest 50 in Twenty20 internationals, and Bangladesh were 28 runs away. As the West Indies were left to ponder, the Tigers kept their nerve and saw things through to the end to hand the West Indies the ignominy of being the first side dumped from the competition. The West Indies also lost the opening match of the competition on Tuesday when hosts South Africa crushed them by eight wickets.
SCOREBOARD
West Indies innings
| C. Gayle c Kapali b Rasel | 0 |
| D.S. Smith b Razzak | 51 |
| S. Chanderpaul c Mortaza b Razzak | 37 |
| M. Samuels c Saqib-ul-Hasan b Ashraful | 27 |
| R. Sarwan st Rahim b Saqib-ul-Hasan | 5 |
| D. Ramdin c Rahim b Saqib-ul-Hasan | 2 |
| D.R. Smith b Saqib-ul-Hasan | 29 |
| D. Bravo st Rahim b Saqib-ul-Hasan | 2 |
| D. Powell not out | 1 |
Extras (lb2, w8) 10 TOTAL (for wight wkts - 20 overs) 164 Fall: 1-0, 2-95, 3-104, 4-126, 5-131, 6-155, 7-157, 8-164 Bowling: Syed Rasel 4-1-10-1, Abdur Razzak 4-0-25-2, Mashrafe Mortaza 2-0-16-0, Farhad Reza 2-0-22-0, Saqib-ul-Hasan 4-0-34-4, Mohammad Ashraful 4-0-55-1. Bangladesh innings T. Iqbal c Chanderpaul b Rampaul | 10 |
| Nazimuddin c Sarwan b Rampaul | 1 |
| A. Ahmed not out | 62 |
| M. Ashraful c Gayle b Sarwan | 61 |
| Saqib-ul-Hasan c Powell b Sarwan | 13 |
| A. Kapali not out | 5 |
| Extras (lb4, w8, nb1) | 13 |
| TOTAL (for four wkts - 18 overs) | 165 |
Fall: 1-2, 2-28, 3-137, 4-159. Bowling: Powell 3-0-28-0, Rampaul 4-0-35-2, Gayle 4-0-21-0, Edwards 3-0-33-0, Bravo 2-0-34-0, Sarwan 2-0-10-2. Result: Bangladesh won by six wickets. Points: Bangladesh 2, West Indies 0.
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