Vic Marks' match report
And this is a really lovely email, from Shammi Huda. A wonderful win for Bangladesh, and a nice place to leave it. Farewell.
“outside, the monsoon in full elemental glory lashing it down on dhaka. season of mango, lychee, jackfruit, jam in full flow. our golden generation of shakib, tamim, mushfiq, and mashrafe on display. a nation of 160 million glued to the tv. it doesn’t get better than this. in the 70s and 80s we gave our love to the west indies, like we did with mohammad ali and pele. the irony isn’t lost on the older generation (with 60% of population under 30). i don’t have a tv but following scoring through the cheers and lulls of the streets. bangla joi!”
Here are the updated standings, with Bangladesh just outside the finals position.
Jason Holder has some relatively obvious thoughts on what went wrong: “Not enough runs.” Well, yes.
“We never got going as we should have through the middle overs. If you score 320 here you’ve got to fight really hard through the middle overs to defend it, and there were a couple of chances we missed. We tried to hit the top of the stumps but we were just too inconsistent. Having said that. we can’t dwell on it. We’ve got another game to play, and from here everything is a final for us.”
And the Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza. “We said yesterday that there is still a chance to go, but we have to win all matches. My knees were a bit hurting, but we had enough bowlers to keep going. I think the turning moment was Mustafizur taking wickets. Hetmyer and then Russell in two overs to get them out.
“Shakib did somethign really exceptional, and hopefully the other boys can join him. In the last two matches Mushy batted so well, today Tamim and Soumya batted well. Liton Das, normally he opens or bats at three, so it’s good for him to get a chance for us and he delivered."
“I am loving following this match. What a joy Bangladesh are,” writes Charlie Jeffery. “Was wondering if they had played Australia yet? To echo someone else it’s such a shame that the Windies are falling away like Steve Finn falling into the stumps. We need upsets though against the fatter teams.PS: I love listening to the Final Word too, even if there is some Oz stuff I just don’t understand.”
Couldn’t agree more about the joy. They play Australia on Thursday at Trent Bridge, and I’ll be there bringing you the OBO as ever. As for the last comment, it is true that sometimes our podcast is mystifyingly Australian for some listeners, but we like to bring an exotic streak to lives around the world.
Player of the match: Shakib al Hasan. No surprises there. Joel Garner awards the trophy.
“It feels great. I’ve been working on my batting for the last month and a half and it’s paid off. I thought it was a team effort to restrict the West Indies, and I was confident we could make it work.
“I know that if I bat at No3 I’ll get more opportunities, more time to bat. I know that if I bat at No5 then I come in at the 30th or 40th over and that’s not ideal for me. So I asked to change.
“I think I’m doing ok with the ball, but I can get certainly better. It will be tough next game, especially playing for Australia who are at the peak of their form so we’ll have to bring our A game. Thanks to our supporters who have been there travelling for us, it’s so good to have this support in this World Cup.”
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Bangladesh beat West Indies by 7 wickets!
41.3 overs: Bangladesh 322-3 (Shakib 124, Das 94) Pulled for four! And that will finish things off – both this match, and the West Indies’ World Cup campaign. Fittingly Liton Das hits the boundary, and fittingly it’s a pull. The batsmen have taken on the short ball today and triumphed. When that didn’t work, West Indies ran out of ideas. It was all pace today, on a good batting strip that didn’t offer much except enough bounce to take the ball over the keeper on occasion. Their lone spinner Ashley Nurse didn’t play, and Chris Gayle’s attempt to fill in was unsuccessful in fairly spectacular fashion.
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41st over: Bangladesh 316-3 (Shakib 124, Das 88) It’s party time at the Liton Das Ranch House. He strides forward at Holder and laces the first ball of the over through extra cover, then leans back and carves a cut shot over backward point. A couple more boundaries as Bangladesh career towards history.
40th over: Bangladesh 305-3 (Shakib 123, Das 78) Gabriel continues, because there’s no point changing really. The West Indies have given up. And there’s no need for Bangladesh to attack, so the batsmen just work a few runs around to go past 300.
“Is there a player in the history of the format that has achieved such incredible statistical feats with less attention?” asks Matthew Potter of Shakib al Hasan. “If he had achieved for those figures for, say, India, would he not be consistently talked about as an all time great already? I do think this will be realised by more people on reflection, but his consistency has been remarkable in a team who have often been less than remarkable.”
I can’t argue with that. It tends to take team wins for players’ feats to be really recognised. But there’ll be a lot of respect for this knock today, given it’s going to lead to an important win.
39th over: Bangladesh 299-3 (Shakib 119, Das 76) Suddenly Bangladesh only need 28 off 12 overs. It doesn’t help when Liton Das smashes a drive straight back at Cottrell and the bowler can’t hang on while trying to preserve his own safety. It helps even less when he follows up with a ball on leg stump that Das glances for four.
38th over: Bangladesh 294-3 (Shakib 118, Das 72) Shannon Gabriel to bowl, striding in to Liton Das. Short, not much bounce though, and it’s pulled away for six! Solid shot, great connection, and it flies well in front of square, into the midwicket crowd. Sweet sound from the first ball of the over.
The second, Gabriel pitches up. Das guesses that he will, shuffles away a touch to make some room, and lofts him for six more! Over long off that time, another clean strike and it flies away.
Third ball, and IT’S SIX! Bouncer again, middle stump line, but Das moves the other way, steps inside the line of the ball and hooks it over fine leg! What a streak.
Will he go for four? No, he’ll play sensibly and drive the wide yorker for one. But Shakib follows up by nicking Gabriel fine for four. Then driving a single. The over goes for 24! This pair could have won Pakistan’s five-over resumption against India last night, at this rate.
37th over: Bangladesh 270-3 (Shakib 113, Das 53) The required rate is down to 4 an over. Cottrell comes in and... bowls a wide. First ball of the over. A couple of dots follow, then has Shakib miscuing but landing safe before it reaches mid-on. So there’s a vestige of pressure, which is then placed on the barbeque and torched when Cottrell bowls a leg-stump half volley for Shakib to clip behind square for four.
36th over: Bangladesh 264-3 (Shakib 109, Das 52) More nervous moments for Bangladesh, as Shakib miscues Thomas back over the bowler, the ball hanging for a long time before landing between mid-on and mid-off. He gets away with it and gets two runs. A couple more wides follow. They’ve been a plague on this match for the Caribbean side. And from the re-bowl - the sixth delivery that has taken three attempts to land - Shakib drives four through long-on.
24 wides today! Bangladesh need 58 from 84. Imagine taking 24 runs from them and four overs off the balls remaining.
Toby Sims is in misery. “I’m very much in two minds about this match - I love the West Indies (Jason Holder is a talisman for both them and the game) but I can’t help really wanting Bangladesh to pull this off. Not only for the lesser spotted run chase above 300, but also because of their passion and tenacity (see also Afghanistan). On tenterhooks for both sides, it’s a nightmare!”
Half century! Liton Das 51 from 43 balls
35th over: Bangladesh 253-3 (Shakib 101, Das 51) Cottrell tries again. A brace, a couple of singles. The 250 comes up, as does a fifty for Liton Das. He’s been terrific too, taking his time and then motoring along once set, supporting his senior player. Between them they’ve reduced the deficite to 69. Nice.
“My second team is generally whichever side is chasing. Partly because we’re yet to see a really epic run chase in the World Cup (go on, Bangladesh!), but mainly because I just find it entertaining. The psychology of weighing up the risk/reward of batting in a chase is one of my favourite things in sport. (Full disclosure: part of my job involves writing risk assessments. I’m not an interesting person.)”
You might be about to see one, Matthew Dony. Then you can reward yourself with a big bowl of plain brown rice and a peruse of the latest Excel formulas.
Century! Shakib 100 from 83 balls!
34th over: Bangladesh 248-3 (Shakib 100, Das 47) Liton Das miscues down to third man for a boundary, then gets off strike. Shakib doesn’t miscue though, from the last ball. He drives Thomas gloriously through cover to raise the milestone! That’s a great get for the highlight reel. Shakib’s second hundred at this World Cup, and he joins a select group of batsmen to achieve that sort of feat. He’s done it quickly, and put his team in pole position to win this match. Some luck, but intent to score as soon as he came in, unlike his England hundred where he looked to be trying to limit any net run rate damage. He was a matchwinner with the bat against South Africa, and could be here.
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33rd over: Bangladesh 238-3 (Shakib 95, Das 42) He’s Liton fire! With Shakib maybe growing a bit pensive while close to a century, as batsmen are wont to do, Das is growing in confidence and taking on the responsbility. He gets a short ball from Thomas, with enough width to swing, and just opens the blade to the sky and uppercuts it for six! Short straight boundaries at Taunton. Then two more runs in the same direction along the ground.
Jack Jorgensen emails in. “I never imagined myself doing so (too many nightmares about the All Blacks, and jokes about someone’s under-arm) but I find myself backing the Kiwis as my second horse, as an Australian. I love watching Kane bat, and saw part of Ross Taylor’s epic at the WACA a few years back, which bumped up my estimation of his skills. The Big Man / Big House / Dutchie has the poshest name in the tournament. The first name game in the squad is strong as well - two Colins, a Henry, a Martin - almost like a team of history teachers / accountants. Plus they seem to have gotten their balance correct as well, with two decent spinners in Sodhi and Santner, a great pace attack, and a good spread of batting. I’m looking forward to seeing how far they get.”
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32nd over: Bangladesh 228-3 (Shakib 94, Das 33) The Gayle Experiment is proving costly for West Indies. They have to find two more overs to fill in Russell’s allotment. Gayle may not be the answer. Because Liton Das plays his first shot in anger, skipping down and chipping four over midwicket one ball after that outfielder was moved to square leg. Shakib carves out to deep cover and only a dive keeps him to two, then Das makes room and goes out through cover himself, on the right-hander’s side of the ground, driving four more. Lovely batting, 13 from the over, and their deficit is under 100 now.
They need 94 from 18 overs.
31st over: Bangladesh 215-3 (Shakib 92, Das 23) Liton Das gets lucky, skewing Holder over mid-on. Thomas wasn’t right back on the ring, where he might have been tall enough to take it. Those moments have gone against West Indies today. But he’s doing his job, rotating strike, and running hard when Shakib wants a fast two to the midwicket sweeper, making sure they both get home safe. No intensity from West Indies in the field though. Take a wicket and they can definitely still win this, they just don’t look like they believe that.
Shakib has gone back to being top run-scorer at this World Cup. He’s passed Aaron Finch’s 343, and done it from one fewer innings.
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30th over: Bangladesh 210-3 (Shakib 89, Das 21) Captain Jason Holder is racing in the Desperation Stakes at the moment. Chris Gayle comes on for a bowl. He’s a walk-up start in this team, literally. Uses his height to lob a ball down with reasonable effect. Single, dot, single, landing them alright. Then he bowls another set of five wides. Fifteen runs in such mistakes, and 22 wides in all, from the West Indies bowlers today. Gayle drags it down, always a risk for the less frequent bowler, and Hope can’t get across to take enough off it. May have got a touch, but not enough to slow it sufficiently.
Three more singles. An over worth 10. Bangladesh only need 5.6 an over, and are going at 6.95. Stirring stuff.
29th over: Bangladesh 200-3 (Shakib 87, Das 18) Top edge again from Shakib! Tries to pull Holder, and the angle of lift undoes him as it has so many batsmen. But the miscue flies high over the keeper and lands safely to drop and bounce for four. There’s a third-umpire review when Liton Das dives in for a single, but he makes it on Shakib’s call. Then his own single raises the 200.
“Abhijato’s tie-breaker suggestion (over 20) is logical, but could be seen as overly bureaucratic,” writes Edmund King. What a worldwide cricket audience surely wants to witness is heart-stoppingly unpredictable live action. How about taking a leaf out of football’s book, but instead of a penalty shootout, asking members of the rival XIs to competitively perform a task against the clock? Exo-planet detection. Harpsichord tuning. If cricket wants to survive, its premier competition needs to embrace bold visions.”
Maybe one of those super-jock American college-boy trick-shot YouTube challenges, like trying to throw a Frisbee into a keg of beer from the back of a moving pick-up truck?
28th over: Bangladesh 192-3 (Shakib 81, Das 16) What was that! Excuse me, I’ll have... hmm... a back-foot on-drive punch for four please.
I’m sorry sir, we can’t make custom dishes.
Shakib has played a wondrous shot to Gabriel. Who then loses his line and delivers a pie, outside leg and glanced for four. Deflated, Gabriel bowls a short ball that doesn’t get up, just served on a plate on off stump. Shakib slaps the short-arm pull shot for four! And 13 from the over. The required rate is under 6 per over.
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27th over: Bangladesh 179-3 (Shakib 68, Das 16) Oh, Shakib. He grows ruder and ruder. Faces up to Captain Jason Holder and just slaps him back down the ground for four. Length ball, full swing. They’re going at 6.7 an over and they need 6.1 from here. An awful lot of runs still to get though.
Nick Parish emails in. “Hearing about Russell’s tumbles inevitably brings to my mind my favourite Terry Pratchett lines.
Why are you kicking Andre Russell while he’s down, Shakib al Hasan?
Safest way, sir!
Well, it was certainly something like that.”
26th over: Bangladesh 172-3 (Shakib 62, Das 15) Gabriel offers yet another wide in this over, as Shakib and Das keep collecting singles.Only four players have done the 6000 runs and 200 wickets in one-dayers: Afridi, Jayasuriya, Kallis and now Shakib. And our man has done it faster than any of them, in 202 matches.
“Genuine question about NRR but don’t laugh at me.” George. I would never laugh at anyone from South Slough.
“If a team get bowled out for 100 in 10 overs then is their run rate 10? Being bowled out for 100 in 10 overs would normally be considered quite poor but is it good for NRR purposes? If they were chasing 200 scored over 50 overs then would they lose the match but do well on NRR?”
In a fit of heroic honesty, I have to admit that I’ve never been good at understanding net run rate, or Duckworth Lewis Stern. I just believe what the stattos tell me. But I’m pretty sure the deal is that your run rate is spread across 50 overs if bowled out, or replicated across 50 if you’re chasing.
So bowled out for 100 in 10 overs is the same as not out making 100 in 50 overs. Run rate of 2 per over. But a winning chase of 100 in 10 overs would be treated as 500 in 50 overs, at 10 per over. Hence the huge gaps when NZ and West Indies bowled out Sri Lanka and Pakistan quickly, then chased quickly.
25th over: Bangladesh 166-3 (Shakib 60, Das 12) Liton Das keeps going well, knocking those ones. Russell tries the short ball to Shakib and beats his attempted uppercut. So he looks to finish the over with another one to Das, but this one clears the keeper for five wides. The second time that’s happened in the innings, and it takes the wides total to 16. The extra delivery is a dot ball, and now comes the traditional Russell limp from the field after six overs.
Both Brian Withington and my colleage Tom Bryant have been reminded by Cottrell of this gem from Roger Harper.
24th over: Bangladesh 157-3 (Shakib 58, Das 10) He’s doing this nicely, Liton Das. Finding the singles when he gets on strike. Gabriel bowls a good over that only goes for four. There’s another sniff of a run out but nothing eventuates from it.
In honour of Cottrell’s effort, here’s our Joy of Six on the topic.
23rd over: Bangladesh 153-3 (Shakib 56, Das 8) Russell, bowling his fifth over. Has only fallen over once, as far as I can tell. No accurate count on how many knee-rubs he’s done. His pace is down to the 85mph/135kph area. Comes around the wicket at Shakib to bounce him, but Shakib ducks, shimmies, tucks. Finally he takes on the bouncer and top edges it, miles into the air. Hope is running back towards the boundary but can’t quite get there. Gabriel was running off the fence at fine leg and probably could have, but saw Hope coming and wanted to avoid a collision. The ball drops into the metre of space between them, like a high-platform circus artist into a washtub. Plop.
Shakib survives. Gets a run. Russell bowls to Liton Das. Who tonks him through midwicket for four. Russell hits the deck again, and stays down a while. It’s safer down there.
22nd over: Bangladesh 146-3 (Shakib 54, Das 3) Shakib is starting to live dangerously, perhaps feeling the pressure to keep the innings moving. He lofts to deep square leg and the ball bounces just short of Hetmyer. Later in the over he mistimes to chip over the bowler, landing safely. The singles come, but it’s dicey stuff. He needs to bat long.
Half century!
21st over: Bangladesh 141-3 (Shakib 51, Das 1) Finally Shakib gives up the bowling, and Liton Das eases a single to third man first ball. Not so easy later in the over, as he gets tangled up against Russell several balls in a row. The good news for Bangladesh is that Shakib’s first single raises his fifty, meaning he now has 75, 64, 121, and 51* in this World Cup.
20th over: Bangladesh 138-3 (Shakib 49, Das 0) Liton Das is next in. Not much of a record to speak of. 24 years of age. He gets to watch from the far end as Shakib negotiates a tricky Cottrell over, before lofting a straight ball down the ground to beat Captain Jason Holder into the rope. Shakib pinches the strike from the final ball.
Abhijato Sensarma has a proposal. “We can replace NRR as a tie-breaker in tournaments such as the World Cup with the team’s official ODI rankings (on the day the qualification is locked for the event) serving as the judging point instead. If multiple teams end up with the same number of points, the higher ranked team gets the higher position on the tournament table. This serves a dual role since it is a fairer method than using the NRR, and contextualises bilateral games too! Your thoughts?”
I think the main issue is that the ranking uses results from two years ago, but would decide positions in a tournament. One of the joys of knockout play is that a team can shake off its past and emerge anew. So a side that has a brilliant run and trounces several good opponents could be ranked behind a side that scraped by each match, if they’re level on points.
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19th over: Bangladesh 133-3 (Shakib 44) Well, well, well. That over was, to be frank, an island of floating trash. Short, wide, two balls slapped away by Shakib to the fence, another so wide it was called by the umpire. But when the final ball goes the other side of the stumps, it draws the lucky dismissal. Thomas has had some impressive moments during this Cup, and that bit of good luck might fire him up to replicate them.
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WICKET! Mushfiqur c Hope b Thomas 1 (Bangladesh 133-3)
There’s your answer - no he can’t. One of those nothing dismissals, to end a poor Thomas over, but the last ball drags down leg and Mushy gets a touch on it as he tries to glance. He throws his head back as the finger goes up, knowing that he’s no chance of surviving a review.
18th over: Bangladesh 121-2 (Shakib 34, Mushfiqur 0) A stroke of luck and brilliance for the West Indies, and that’s the kind of thing that can often derail a batting side. The vastly experienced Mushfiqur Rahim comes to the middle. Can he combine with Shakib as they’ve done so many times?
WICKET! Tamim Iqbal run out (Cottrell) 48 (Bangladesh 121-2)
Incredible piece of fielding. Direct hit from Cottrell, with maybe a stump and a half to aim at around Tamim’s body, and he does for Tamim by an inch. So often you see bowlers feigning to throw down the striker’s stumps after fielding the ball. Normally it’s just a charade. But this time Tamim had come a step down the wicket to play the ball, and another step to catch his balance. He dug out the full ball back to Cottrell, who picked it up fluidly and fired down the stumps in one move. Tamim was diving back but was short.
Cottrell took maybe the catch of the tournament against Australia, and now this. Right up there with a couple of run-outs that Isuru Udana effected from his own bowling for Sri Lanka against Australia as well.
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17th over: Bangladesh 119-1 (Tamim 47, Shakib 33) Bang! The over after drinks can often bring a wicket, but this time it brings the shot of the day. Thomas bounces Shakib, and the Bangladeshi cleans up on the pull shot, absolutely nailing it square for four.
16th over: Bangladesh 112-1 (Tamim 47, Shakib 27) Bangladesh take a breather with the drinks break approach, just knocking Gabriel around. There’s no spin option for West Indies today aside from Gayle, who these days sends the ball down about as venomously as he walks to the crease to deliver it.
“O Jason, my Jason,” is how Guy Hornsby prefaces his email - very good. “Like Alastair, I’m lucky enough to be going to Old Trafford on Saturday (and tomorrow) and I was looking forward to it being a win-or-bust for either team. Sadly Windies’ promise has been deflated by injuries and form, and the nagging feeling they can’t keep at full wallop for fifty overs at the moment. It’s a real shame, given the youngsters in the squad. Surely though, as England have found, this World Cup is going to be about the squad because playing so many group games is attritional. I hope Roy & Morgan heal, but it’s no bad thing if Vince and Dawson play either. Thoughts, OBO faithful?”
It would be certainly great for those two on a personal level to get a game, and feel like they’ve properly been part of the tournament.
15th over: Bangladesh 108-1 (Tamim 46, Shakib 24) Thomas finds some control: singles, and a two down fine towards third man. With that brace, Shakib brings up his 6000th one-day run. Eight centuries there at 37, and the small matter of 252 wickets as well with his spin.
14th over: Bangladesh 103-1 (Tamim 44, Shakib 21) Slip is gone, third man is back finer. He fields a couple of singles, before Gabriel drops short and Tamim batters him through cover with a flat bat. Boundary. The run rate is 7.34, and they only need 6.08 from here. A few more brisk overs could lay this out on a platter for Bangladesh.
“At the risk of further inflating my already burgeoning anti-nationalist cred,” writes Abhinav Dutta, who must have been up to something that we should probably know about, “I have consistently been rooting for the West Indies for some time now and can’t help but admire the Pakistanis when they get their act together. In spite of India boasting a really strong team I find them to be more more efficient than thrilling.”
“But with the Windies and Pakistanis, it’s like a bipolar dimension. One moment magical and the very next farcical. I gather that sustained sporting success is not for me. Instead it’s more of a masochistic exercise where I revel in the pain and anguish of watching teams flounder when they absolutely shouldn’t. Have I told you I also support the Dutch football team and Tottenham?”
You’re not alone in this regard, I imagine. Every league has its variant.
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13th over: Bangladesh 96-1 (Tamim 38, Shakib 20) They’re throwing plenty of wides at Bangladesh, these bowlers. Nine so far, as Oshane Thomas comes back to donate one more. He gets cut by Shakib, gorgeously, for four behind point. Wrists snapping down so the ball hit the ground and was no chance to be caught. Thomas comes back with a brilliant bouncer, really fast and at the helmet, which Shakib ducks. That sizzled through.
One of the OBO favourites Brian Withington is on the email. “My neutral favourite today has to be Bangladesh, if only to see a side successfully chase a target above 250 in this WC. I noticed that pre-tournament Virat Kohli predicted that the scoring would not be as high as has become the norm in bilateral series. Not just a fairly useful batsman...”
Batsman, statesman, soothsayer?
12th over: Bangladesh 89-1 (Tamim 37, Shakib 15) Shannon Gabriel comes on. He can be very brisk when he wants to be, a pretty significant second-change bowler. But he starts with a a wide down leg. He does well, tying down Tamim for a few balls, but when Shakib gets a chance to swing, the batsman gets a high top edge down to a fine fine leg for four, leaping over the rope.
Well bowled. Mind you, whenever I see the name Shannon Gabriel I just think of this guy.
11th over: Bangladesh 81-1 (Tamim 36, Shakib 9) I’m pleased to see that Andre Russell has sorted the lettering on his shirt out. He was Russel in his first match, then Russell with an L that had obviously been hastily added from a sports store and didn’t match the font or positioning when he played Australia, then back to Russel in his previous match after a page designer had obviously had a word, and how has a perfect matching letter. Maybe he borrowed an L from Nigel Lllllllllong?
It doesn’t help his bowling though, as Tamim decides this is the over to take him on. First a gorgeous drive on the up through cover. Four. Then a brace bunted over midwicket, unconvincing but effective. Finally a better pull shot, cruched squarer for four more. That with Shakib single to start the over makes 11. Zoom.
10th over: Bangladesh 70-1 (Tamim 26, Shakib 8) Four for Tamim! Perhaps he saw Shakib’s swish and thought he needs to score himself to calm his teammate down? Either way, he throws the bat for the first time, driving square through point. The plan, if it was one, doesn’t work, because when Shakib gets strike he flat-bats Holder from around the wicket for four, through long-off. Still two lefties in the middle. Short again and pulled again, but deep square keeps it to one. Not the last ball of the over though! Tamim pulls that finer, from the line of leg stump, and it bounces away with speed for four! The over costs 14.
“I’m a New Zealander, and it’s definitely Windies for me, Geoff. Me and my mate Stanley from Trinidad have tickets for next Saturday at Old Trafford, so ideally we want that match to be a sort of quarter-final. That would probably require NZ to lose to SA in the meantime, but I’m willing to make that sacrifice…”
Generous from Alistair Connor.
9th over: Bangladesh 56-1 (Tamim 17, Shakib 3) Right then. Soumya has got his team a reasonably fast start but has to make way. Over to Shakib al Hasan, who hasn’t missed out with the bat yet in this World Cup. Bangladesh need him again today. He gets off the mark nicely, driving down the ground and getting back for three with the field up. Then Russell bounces him, and Shakib nails the pull so hard that Cottrell at mid-on falls over backwards in stopping it. Shakib tries a repeat next ball but meets fresh air.
WICKET! Soumya Sarkar c Gayle b Russell 29 (Bangladesh 52-1)
Gone! Soft from Soumya. The first ball of the over he got width from Russell and ramped it for six. The second was tighter, at his body, and he tried to steer to third man but Gayle spends about 40 overs of any innings at slip so he doesn’t have to run. And that ball went straight to him, like a fielding drill.
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8th over: Bangladesh 46-0 (Tamim 16, Soumya 23) Tamim is starting to get into his groove, taking a couple of singles from Holder.
7th over: Bangladesh 40-0 (Tamim 11, Soumya 22) Andre Russell will come on to try to take some initiative back. Remarkably he can walk. He’s strapping himself up like Sigourney Weaver at the end of Aliens, adjusting a huge compression bandage that goes from shin to thigh under his maroon strides. But he’s going to bowl a bit before grimacing endlessly and falling over several times and limping from the field and bowling another spell, if history is any guide.
And he’s quick, as he always is. Up around 90 miles an hour immediately. Just a couple of singles, as he packs his off side field and bowls outside off.
“Bangladesh are my second team for this game, and for the entire tournament for that matter,” emails Matthew Potter. “Great fans, a really likable (and in my opinion, underrated) team, with some seriously fun players to watch. For what it’s worth, I think they’ll just miss out and finish fifth, but I’d at least like it to be dragged out. Let’s hope for a Tamim or Shakib ton! (Partially for fantasy cricket purposes, I had a shocker yesterday opting for Imam over Sharma.)”
Ouch. On the other side of the argument, Adam Reed has compelling evidence:
@GeoffLemonSport really enjoying Shimron Hetmyer’s cricket bat necklace! pic.twitter.com/57whJL37lK
— Adam Reed (@AdamAustinReed) June 17, 2019
6th over: Bangladesh 38-0 (Tamim 10, Soumya 21) Holder won’t be targeted in the same way, as his awkward bounce from his epic height makes the batsmen take more care, just the odd single. He comes around the wicket to Tamim for the last couple of balls, and Tamim steps across to try a ramp which he misses. He wants a wide, but it passed over his leg stump I’d think.
Here’s your preview for England’s match tomorrow from Vic Marks.
5th over: Bangladesh 34-0 (Tamim 9, Soumya 19) Well, Tamim can afford to take his time if Soumya keeps doing this. SIX! First ball of Cottrell’s over, slot ball, and Soumya imagines he’s in the last ten overs rather than the first, and cleans it up over midwicket for half a dozen. That throws off Cottrell enough to drag the next down leg, and Soumya glances it for four. Then a single to third man. Simples.
And well, Soumya is living in Cottrell’s head at the moment. Tamim hands the strike back, so Cottrell tries a bouncer. The classic response. He gives it everything, too much in fact, and it launches over Shai Hope’s head for five wides! A single follows, then a top save from Pooran at cover keeps the cost of the over to 18.
4th over: Bangladesh 16-0 (Tamim 8, Soumya 6) Holder continues, and Tamim is playing very cautiously here. Can be a dasher but he wants to get set. After Soumya takes a single first ball, Tamim blots out five.
“Dumb American watching his first cricket world cup here,” writes Jason Straight to get in ahead of all of you toffy Brits and we tactless Australians. “All these matches are neutral to me. I’ll go for the Windies on this one to try to keep my hemisphere relevant. Loyalty is up for grabs, so sell me on your national side!”
Judging by their Twitter presence, I reckon Iceland Cricket is going cheap.
3rd over: Bangladesh 15-0 (Tamim 8, Soumya 6) Cottrell is bowling well here. A bit of swing, and he draws a mistimed single from Tamim, then a play and miss from Soumya. But when he drops short, Tamim pulls for a couple.
“Greetings from a warm and sunny Croatia. Am greatly enjoying the OBO — many thanks!” No - thank you, Mark Jeffery. “I don’t wish to prejudice the outcome of this game, but there does seem to be an almost inevitable pattern here. Team A wins the toss, puts Team B in to bat, who then run up 320+. Team A run themselves into the ground trying to keep up, fall short, and end up losing by anything from 20-80 runs. Maybe teams should try batting first after all? All best and živjeli (cheers).”
Živjeli is one of my favourite philosophers.
2nd over: Bangladesh 11-0 (Tamim 5, Soumya 5) Second over, and it’s time for Captain Jason Holder. I was fortunate enough to do some commentary stints on the wireless with Curtly Ambrose in the West Indies-Australia game at Trent Bridge, and the best thing about him is that he uses “Captain Jason Holder” every time he mentions the player, as though it were a military title. Thus, I can’t think of Holder as Holder anymore. CJH to his friends.
Captain Jason Holder bowls wide to Soumya, who slices riskily away with third man pounding around the boundary rope. But it lands wide of him for a single. Two left-handers batting. CJH then swings the ball into Tamim, hitting him almost on the back hip, going well over the stumps. Tamim manages a run dabbing to point, then Soumya launches into a lofted drive over cover. It’s a clunky one, not timed at all, but there’s no one out there so it eventually dribbles for four.
1st over: Bangladesh 5-0 (Tamim 4, Soumya 0) And we’re away. Sheldon Cottrell, star of the mystifyingly popular television program The Big Bang Theory, will open the bowling for West Indies. Gets wided for a bouncer, so he doesn’t continue with that option. Hangs most of his over across the left-handed Tamim, who waits patiently until the fifth ball, a touch fuller, which gets the treatment through cover. All hands and eye, no feet.
With all the rain around, and net run rate being a big talking point at this World Cup, here’s an interesting series of musings from an internet gentleman.
Any sport in the world uses For and Against (Points Scored minus Points Conceded) as a tie-breaker for League/Group teams that end on equal footing. In cricket, this obviously doesn’t work due to 2nd innings chases being restricted by how many runs can be scored #CWC19
— Nick Toovey (@tooves) June 17, 2019
This doesn’t take into account wickets lost. 180/9 off 20 overs is awarded the same 'Dominance', as such, as 180/0 off 20 overs, despite the first instance being incredibly close to losing the match altogether. #CWC19
— Nick Toovey (@tooves) June 17, 2019
We could also use DLS to assess For & Against on second innings chase ‘domination’. If a team batting first wins by 89 runs, they are awarded +89 on F&A (the team losing -89). The corresponding DLS score for each ball of a 2nd innings that’s displayed on the scoreboard #CWC19
— Nick Toovey (@tooves) June 17, 2019
Let’s say, 80 (again - guessing!). In that case, +100 F&A points awarded
— Nick Toovey (@tooves) June 17, 2019
I don’t have the time or info to see how this would change the rankings on the current table, (and it’s unlikely to effect this World Cup), but it’s surely a better way of measuring dominance in a match.
Neutral cricket watchers, who is your second team for this match? And why? As always, you can email me via geoff.lemon@theguardian.com, or find me on the old Twitter machine.
Here’s one of our stable nailing his red and green colours to the mast early.
The tournament needs Musta to finish the job with the ball, the Tiges to chase this down and then to shock Australia at Trent Bridge. Failing that, we're going to know the final four halfway through the group stage. Shades of 1996. #CWC19
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) June 17, 2019
Thanks Ashers. Well, that was fun. Some brilliant fielding from Bangladesh, not always the cleanest stops but effective ones as they hurled themselves around the field. Both of these teams offer a lot in the way of entertainment, and they’re both playing to keep themselves in this World Cup. I like Bangladesh as a batting side when they click: Tamim, Soumya, Shakib, Mushfiq, Mahmudullah: plenty of quality. So they can do this, but teams defending 300 always start with a big advantage.
Right, that’s it from me. Geoff Lemon will be with you very shortly for Bangladesh’s chase.
West Indies set Bangladesh 322 to win
At one point it seemed West Indies might only scramble to 270-odd. Then, briefly, 350 seemed likely. So perhaps somewhere between the two is a fair result.
WICKET! Bravo b Shaifuddin 19 (West Indies 321-8)
50th over: West Indies 321-7 (Thomas 5, Bravo 19) Shaifuddin takes the final over and he also starts with a wide but, unlike Mustafizur, he follows it up with another a couple of balls later … and another. It’s all entirely unnecessary – Thomas is the man on strike. A single puts Bravo on strike and he heaves over midwicket for six. Ten off the over and still three balls to go. Couple of dots, then a yorker does for Bravo. A strange, strange final couple of overs to complete a very strange innings.
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49th over: West Indies 311-7 (Thomas 5, Bravo 13) Mustafizur comes in to send down the penultimate over and starts off with a wide but he improves from that point. Then we have a baffling moment – Thomas plays and misses, then absent mindedly swings his bat back up and over the stumps, then down on to the bails. It’s incredibly clumsy but not out as he’d finished playing his shot. Odd moment.
48th over: West Indies 305-7 (Thomas 1, Bravo 12) This has been a really fascinating contest, one that has ebbed and flowed more than just about any ODI innings I can remember (though, to be honest, my memory isn’t all that great). Bravo finally finds his mojo and a boundary – six off the last over long on.
47th over: West Indies 297-7 (Thomas 0, Bravo 6) Since Holder’s wicket – 20 balls, 15 runs.
Hope c Litton b Mustafizur 96 (West Indies 297-7)
Mustafizurhas bowled beautifully here, mixing up his pace and keeping the batsmen to three singles from the first five balls. From the last Hope, increasingly becalmed, shuffles to the off and looks to flick over square leg but can only pick out the man in the deep.
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46th over: West Indies 294-6 (Hope 95, Bravo 4) Shaifuddin again and again this pair struggle to find the rope. Five singles and a couple from the last is all the batsmen get.
“My first cat was ginger too, named after (Kit) Marlowe,” writes John Starbuck. “His principle role was to lie on my legs whilst I was stretched out watching Test matches on TV. That was back in the ‘70s though. His pals and successors have been variously fascinated by cricket, some of them endeavouring to chase and catch the ball as it rolled towards the boundary. Not so much as for snooker though.”
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45th over: West Indies 288-6 (Hope 91, Bravo 2) Holder and Hetmyer combined for 83 from 41. Handy. Mehidy returns with his off spin and keeps things nice and quiet – single, dot, single, single, single, single. Five from the over.
44th over: West Indies 283-6 (Hope 88, Bravo 0) Darren Bravo finally makes it to the crease.
WICKET! Holder c Mamudullah bShaifuddin 33 (West Indies 282-6)
Holder, who is batting wonderfully, clonks Shaifuddin down the ground for four more. He goes to 33 from 14. And, of course, he then skies one into the deep for Mamudullah to pouch.
43rd over: West Indies 274-5 (Hope 86, Holder 27) Mashrafe brings himself back into the attack and Holder smites him into the stands at long on. He goes for it again from the next but toe-ends it a little – Tamim, diving in, watches the ball bounce under his hands and disappear for four.
“Many thanks for the magnificent pic of Brian, the Somerset cat,” writes Robert Wilson. “First off, way to go unapologetic ginge. Plus great name. I had a cat called Colin and a grumpy life-ruiner named Norman but I think Brian shades it just for how melancholy it would sound shouted reproachfully across the chilly wastes of an empty sports stadium as a winter evening draws in. The best bit is the expression though. If you give a single minute to inspecting the physiognomy of that redoubtable animal, it quickly becomes clear that this is a cat that really hates cricket. It’s magnificent.”
42nd over: West Indies 261-5 (Hope 84, Holder 16) Who knows where we go from here. The tide just keeps turning. Hope drives sweetly for one, Holder lofts for two. The West Indies captain pulls hard for four from the last but this has been an excellent return from Mustafizur, whose figures for the 40th and 42nd over read 2-0-10-2.
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41st over: West Indies 254-5 (Hope 83, Holder 10) Holder’s turn to have them ducking in the stands – a huge slog-sweep off the returning Shakib that disappears into the crowd. He follows that up with a glorious orthodox cover drive for four. Eleven from the over.
40th over: West Indies 243-5 (Hope 82, Holder 0) Well that changes the tone to some extent! Three runs and two wickets from that over. Jason Holder comes out to join Hope, with Bravo – in the side as an extra batsman – sliding down the order.
WICKET! Russell c Mushfiqur b Mustafizur 0 (West Indies 243-5)
Fair to say Bangladesh needed that. And they’ve got another! A gorgeous delivery from the Fiz, moving across Russell and finding the edge.
WICKET! Hetmyer c Tamim b Mustafizur 50 (West Indies 242-4)
Hetmyer goes to his 50 off just 25 balls, but that’s yer lot. A skew steeples into the Somerset sky and Tamim takes a tricky tumbling catch in the deep.
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39th over: West Indies 240-3 (Hope 81, Hetmyer 49) Mehidy keeps this pair to a series of six singles, which Bangladesh will certainly take at this stage.
38th over: West Indies 234-3 (Hope 78, Hetmyer 46) Hetmyer crashes Mosaddek for another boundary through backward point, pulls for a couple, then heaves over cow corner for six! He moves on to 44 from 18, already a game-changing knock. Fourteen from the first three but Mosaddek responds well – a couple of dots then a scampered two.
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37th over: West Indies 220-3 (Hope 78, Hetmyer 32) The return of the pace bowlers really hasn’t worked, so Bangladesh opt to take a bit of heat off the ball and Mehidy comes back into the attack. The now helmet-free Hetmyer responds with another cracker – a beautiful back-foot off drive placed precisely for four.
36th over: West Indies 210-3 (Hope 74, Hetmyer 26) Shaifuddin steams in once more with Bangladesh under a bit of pressure for pretty much the first time in the match. PLONK! Hetmyer hooks hard for a big six at backward point. And from the last there’s an even bigger hit – a gigantic slog sweep that has them running for cover on Taunton high street. Fifteen off the over and Hetmyer moves on to 26 from 12.
35th over: West Indies 193-3 (Hope 69, Hetmyer 14) The left-arm-round Mustafizur returns to the attack. And Hope welcomes him by launching him flat-batted over long off for six! What a shot that was. And he follows it up with a hook for four more. Mustafizur – a touch irked – then sends down a bouncer that flies over batsman and keeper and zips away for five wides.
Yeesh – he follows that with another wide: 16 off the over, three balls still to go. A dot follows then there’s more chaos – the batsmen looking at each other in the middle of the pitch as short third man takes aim at the vacant stumps … and misses. Two off the last and an over Mustafizur will not want to hear from ever again.
34th over: West Indies 174-3 (Hope 58, Hetmyer 12) Hetmyer means business here – he thunks Shaifuddin to cow corner for four. Eight off the over.
33rd over: West Indies 166-3 (Hope 55, Hetmyer 7) Things are in danger of unravelling here for West Indies – both times they’ve looked to really accelerate they’ve lost a wicket. Hetmyer looks to pepper the spectators straight away, slog-sweeping away for a couple, then smartly sweeping in more orthordox fashion for four.
WICKET! Pooran c sub b Shakib 25 (West Indies 159-3)
More, more, more from Shakib. Out, out, out goes Pooran! He slogs hard but can’t get a clean hit on Shakib and can only launch the ball to long on.
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32nd over: West Indies 158-2 (Hope 54, Pooran 25) Shaifuddin (3-1-12-1) returns and has Pooran playing and missing wildly outside off. A couple of singles later, he repeats the trick off the last. An excellent return – just two off the over and that run rates drops below five again.
31st over: West Indies 156-2 (Hope 53, Pooran 24) The West Indies run rate creeps above five-an-over for the first time – they’ll be eyeing 300, though it’s far from a certainty. Shakib again restricts the batsmen to singles, five of them this time.
30th over: West Indies 151-2 (Hope 51, Pooran 21) Pooran is ready to go. He launches Mehidy down the ground for a couple but finds the sweet spot next ball, back over the bowler’s head for a huge six. New ball required. But a good response from the bowler – three dots and a single follow that huge hit.
“If E and L wander off, there could be HANDBAGS,” frets Nick Way.
29th over: West Indies 141-2 (Hope 51, Pooran 12) Shakib rattles through an over so quickly I barely noticed it happened. Just two from it.
28th over: West Indies 139-2 (Hope 50, Pooran 10) Mehidy returns. Hope skips down the wicket and clunks a drive down the ground for two, then a skittered single takes Hope to his half century. Pooran joins the fun, thrashing low through point for four more. Nine from the over.
27th over: West Indies 130-2 (Hope 47, Pooran 5) Shakib continues and keeps the batsmen to just a single.
26th over: West Indies 129-2 (Hope 46, Pooran 5) There’s certainly more intent about West Indies now. Mosaddek offers a bit of width for just about the first time and Pooran gets off the mark with a firm cut for four.
25th over: West Indies 122-2 (Hope 44, Pooran 0) Pooran plays and misses at his first delivery and Shakib follows up his wicket with three dots.
WICKET! Lewis c sub b Shakib 70 (West Indies 122-2)
WHUMP! Lewis gets on one knee and slog-sweeps Shakib into the square-leg stands. The world’s No 1 all-rounder is struggling so far. And, pretty much as I’m typing that, he gets his man. Lewis is aiming for the stands again but this time skews to long on.
24th over: West Indies 114-1 (Hope 44, Lewis 62) Mosaddek rattles through another – six fuss-free singles off it.
23rd over: West Indies 108-1 (Hope 41, Lewis 59) Lewis brings up his half-century (from 58 balls) with a neat push down the ground for a single. He’s batted nicely since a slightly scrappy start. Hope then cuts for three, a brilliant bit of fielding on the rope forcing the batsmen to panic-scamper the third. Another single brings up the 100 for the Windies and back to back boundaries for Lewis – the first swept fine, the second slammed uppishly through backward point – mean 14 from the over and a bit of much-needed acceleration.
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22nd over: West Indies 94-1 (Hope 37, Lewis 49) There’s a bit of a retro feel about this at the moment – only two boundaries since the 13th over. And four singles off this latest effort from Mosaddek.
21st over: West Indies 90-1 (Hope 35, Lewis 47) Shakib Al Hasan into the attack for the first time today, left-arm round. Nudge and nurdle is the order of the day – four singles in total.
“If only the ‘L’ and ‘S letter-shirt people wandered off, the others could end up spelling HEADBANG,” notes Mac Millings. “But if everyone stays and switches seats, we might get DANGLEBASH, or BLADEGNASH, both of which sound pretty painful.
20th over: West Indies 86-1 (Hope 33, Lewis 45) Mosaddek again. Hope drives sumptuously for two (Mahmudullah making a fine stop; Hope thought it had gone – he stood and admired it for a few seconds before begrudgingly setting off for the run).
19th over: West Indies 82-1 (Hope 30, Lewis 44) Mustafizur continues and Lewis misses out as he strays to leg, Shaifuddin’s fine fielding at fine leg preventing the boundary. But there’s nothing he can do with this – an attempted bouncer his helped on its way by Lewis who this time does find the rope.
18th over: West Indies 75-1 (Hope 28, Lewis 39) More spin – Mosaddek, obviously recovered from his knock, into the attack. A fine bit of fielding from Shakib at square leg denies Hope a certain boundary and after just five dots there is just a single off the last.
17th over: West Indies 74-1 (Hope 27, Lewis 39) West Indies have rebuilt pretty well after that ropey start. You wouldn’t quite say they’re on top yet but they’re definitely in the game. Tidy stuff from Mustafizur here, keeping the batsmen to a single apiece.
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16th over: West Indies 72-1 (Hope 26, Lewis 38) Lewis shovels Mehidy through the off-side for a couple. Mossadek fields on the boundary and seems to have done himself a mischief, so they take drinks while he gets some treatment. He goes off and after the break Hope rocks back and punches through the covers for four.
15th over: West Indies 64-1 (Hope 21, Lewis 35) Mustafizur replaces Mortaza, who can go and soak his aching bones for a while. Is Shai Hope’s off-drive the most aesthetically pleasing shot in world cricket at the moment? It’s definitely up there. And he unfurls a corker here (for one).
14th over: West Indies 58-1 (Hope 17, Lewis 35) The Bangladeshi fans seem to be out in force in Taunton – we get a nice shot of 10 fans, each with one letter of the country’s name on their shirts. You’ve got to be organised with that sort of thing, particularly as the day wears on. There’s no way I’d risk it: all it takes is for a couple of people to wander off at some point and a few people to switch seats and before you know it you’re sat in a row with LASAGNE or GLANDES on your T-shirts.
Mehidy twirls through another over, giving up only ones and twos.
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13th over: West Indies 53-1 (Hope 15, Lewis 32) “Re: Animal mascots,” begins Charles Montague. “The Oz badge features two animals that are very much alive and kicking (and punching) in the Australian wild.”
Mashrafe continues into his seventh over. Perhaps once those poor old knees get mobile it’s best to keep them moving. He drops a touch short and Lewis is on to it like a shot, pulling hard for a one-bounce four to cow corner.
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12th over: West Indies 45-1 (Hope 14, Lewis 26) Mehidy continues and Lewis benefits from a misfield to pinch a single. But it’s more tight stuff from the spinner.
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11th over: West Indies 42-1 (Hope 12, Lewis 24) That is apparently the lowest score after 10 overs in the tournament so far, testament to an excellent Bangladesh bowling performance. Lewis has had enough of it – he slams Mortaza over wide long on for six to get the juices flowing.
10th over: West Indies 32-1 (Hope 12, Lewis 17) Mehidy, the off-spinner, into the attack. Tidy stuff from the youngster – just the two singles off the over. West Indies haven’t got going at all yet.
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9th over: West Indies 30-1 (Hope 11, Lewis 16) Mortaza (4-1-8-0) continues and by the end of the over he has figures of 5-1-9-0.
8th over: West Indies 29-1 (Hope 11, Lewis 15) The first bowling change of the day: Mustafizur comes into the attack. He’s a little too straight throughout, though, and the batsmen are able to tickle him away for a few singles before he overcompensates and Hope is able to punch a short wide one through the covers for four.
And here’s the full story on that Jason Roy news:
7th over: West Indies 21-1 (Hope 6, Lewis 13) Mortaza maintains his stranglehold – tight line and length giving up just three singles.
A bit of news from elsehwere: the ECB has confirmed England’s Jason Roy has a hamstring tear and will miss at least two matches.
6th over: West Indies 18-1 (Hope 5, Lewis 11) Yes, this has been an excellent start for Bangladesh. It’s always been an excellent start for Bangladesh. No one ever said it was an excellent start for Sri Lanka. Especially not in the fourth over. No sirree. Don’t know where you got that from. Fake news, I reckon.
Hope pirouette-pulls beautifully for four to get off the mark. And Lewis joins the fun later in the over – Shaifuddin dropping short and offering the sort of width the West Indies opener loves – four more. Then an escape – Lewis edging with soft hands just short of slip.
5th over: West Indies 8-1 (Hope 0, Lewis 6) Mortaza continues to trundle in and hit a nice length. Lewis blocks to wide of mid off for a quick single. And a leg bye means just two off the over.
4th over: West Indies 6-1 (Hope 0, Lewis 5) So this has become an excellent start for Bangladesh. Gayle looked a little dozy, a little sluggish, a little like he’d rather be sat on the settee at home – basically a little like most people on a Monday morning. A wicket maiden for Shaifuddin and only two scoring shots from the Windies so far.
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WICKET! Gayle c Mushfiqur b Shaifuddin 0 (West Indies 6-1)
Back to Gayle then, who has now gone 12 balls without getting off the mark. And he’s not going to get off the mark! His 13th delivery tempts him into a tentative, awkward push outside off and the ball just carries through to the keeper.
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3rd over: West Indies 6-0 (Gayle 0, Lewis 5) A big play-and-miss from Lewis as Mortaza finds some movement off the pitch but he connects with the next – short and wide from the bowler and thunked through point for four. An inside edge then rattles into the pads and trickles wide of the off stump.
2nd over: West Indies 2-0 (Gayle 0, Lewis 1) Shaifuddin with the new ball at the River End. Lewis pushes his first ball into the off to get us under way and next up Shaifuddin sends down a leg-side wide but Gayle is taking his time to settle in. He’s now seen out seven eight nine 10 11 dots.
1st over: West Indies 0-0 (Gayle 0, Lewis 0) Mashrafe Mortaza opens the bowling, with Chris Gayle coiled at the striker’s end. The Bangladesh captain squares Gayle up with his second ball and, despite offering the batsman a bit of width later in the over, he starts off with a maiden.
“Is Bangladesh the only cricketing nation sporting an animal mascot which still roams (bits of) its landscape?” wonders Marting Wright. “Lions in Whipsnade don’t count.”
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Anthemwatch: two of the jauntier anthems on the international circuit these. Amar Sonar Bangla lasts about an hour and a half but doesn’t really outstay it’s welcome as it’s such a nice tune. And I’m not a massive fan of “Rally Round the West Indies” but it’s still better than most.
Out come the teams. Amusingly, the young mascot seems to be dragging Chris Gayle out there.
A bit of pre-match reading: here’s Moeen Ali’s latest column for us:
The teams
West Indies: Gayle, Lewis, Hope, Pooran, Bravo, Hetmyer, Holder, Russell, Cottrell, Thomas, Gabriel.
Bangladesh: Tamim, Soumya, Shakib, Mushfiqur, Litton, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek, Shaifuddin, Mehidy, Mashrafe, Mustafizur.
The toss
Bangladesh’s Mashrafe Mortaza wins the toss and is going to have a bowl.
Bangladesh can feel a little hard-done-by so far in this tournament. They thumped South Africa and got very close against New Zealand before falling short against England – and if you wanted one of your games rained off, you wouldn’t choose the one against Sri Lanka. I make them favourites today.
Preamble
Morning all. We’re pretty much slap-bang at the halfway point of the group stage and this feels like a must-win for both sides if either are to maintain realistic hopes of making the semi-finals.
The good news from Taunton is that for the first time since wooly mammoths were roaming the Somerset wilds, there’s no rain forecast. We should – should – be delay-free for the duration.
