The full extent of the 'Mirpur formula' was on display at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday as the Tigers thrashed the West Indies by 74 runs in the first ODI of the three-match bilateral series.
Mirpur stadium pitch, with its peculiarly dark appearance, lived up to its ominous look low, slow, offering sharp and extravagant turn, and unforgiving for batters as Bangladesh bundled out the visitors for just 133 in 39 overs after being skittled out for 207 in 49.4 overs. The match reinforced Bangladesh's familiar practice of preparing tricky home surfaces that often turn into banana peels for West Indies sides.
As expected, the spinners dominated. Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in the ODI format, while skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Tanvir Islam picked up one wicket each and Mustafizur Rahman picked up two wickets.
Earlier, the visiting openers Brandon King (44 off 60) and Alick Athanaze (27 off 36) -- gave their side a solid start with a 51-run stand but once Rishad broke through by trapping Athanaze leg-before in the 12th over, the leg-spinner took complete control, removing five of the top six batters to dismantle the West Indies' innings.
Bangladesh was whitewashed against Afghanistan in the last bilateral series. After that series, the Tigers didn't get a chance to do practice. Three days later, they had to take the field against the West Indies. Mehdi Hasan Miraz's team, however, broke the circle of loss when they returned home.
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