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Cricket World Cup: Shakib al Hasan proves his class as Bangladesh lay down marker
West Indies legend Curtly Ambrose slams the team after a ‘total massacre’
Bangladesh may not have been the bookies’ favourites before the Cricket World Cup started, but they laid down a marker of intent as they nonchalantly chased an imposing target of 322 against the West Indies in Taunton.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
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“This was a record-breaking performance, Bangladesh’s highest successful run chase in ODI cricket and the second highest – after Ireland’s triumphant pursuit against England in Bangalore – in World Cup history,” says The Guardian.
“For West Indies it was heartbreaking. Their early defeat of Pakistan raised hopes of a revival in this form of the game but since then they have been frail in body and mind.”
Shakib is now the tournament’s leading run-score, ahead of the likes of Steve Smith, Joe Root and Virat Kohli. But Shakib “hasn’t just contributed with the bat”, says Forbes writer Steve Busfield.
“He’s also bowled almost the maximum allowed and taken five wickets,” Busfield reports. “None of this should be too much of a surprise really: he has the career stats of a long-term world class all-rounder, with a batting average higher than his bowling average in all formats of the international game.
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“His career has probably been a badly-kept secret in the host nation due to the rarity of Bangladesh’s invitations to English shores.”
Busfield says that while a place in the semi-finals may be beyond them, Bangladesh are in the running to be “best of the rest”.
Total massacre
As for the West Indies, their performance in the field was dire. Former star Curtly Ambrose told the BBC: “They came out and bowled absolute rubbish and the Bangladesh batsmen capitalised and won this game handsomely. It was a total massacre.”
Their World Cup now looks to be over, with just three points from their first five games. With New Zealand and India next on the horizon the Windies’s chances of a top-four spot appear to be gone.
“They looked stunned after a chastening defeat,” says the BBC.
Hit wicket or not?
There was a “bizarre” incident during the West Indies’s innings against Bangladesh, when tailender Oshane Thomas knocked the bails off his wicket but was adjudged not out after an umpire review, Yahoo reports.
The batsman broke the stumps as he sauntered back to his crease after missing the ball. But the ICC law states that a batsman is only out if he hits his wicket “in preparing to receive or in receiving a delivery, or in setting off for his first run, immediately after playing or playing at the ball”.
In this case the umpires adjudged he had finished his shot by the time the bails came off.
