West Indies pacer Kemar Roach took three quick wickets to stun Australia on day two of the second Test at the Gabba in Brisbane on Friday, leaving the hosts staggering on 24-4 at the first break. After reaching 311 in their first innings, the West Indies struck early to dismiss Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green and Travis Head, leaving the Australian reply in tatters. At dinner, Usman Khawaja was not out on six with Mitchell Marsh yet to come to the crease. The Australian experiment of moving Smith up the order to open the batting after David Warner's retirement hadn't worked in the first Test in Adelaide last week, and it failed again on Friday. After hitting a beautiful straight drive off Roach (3-13) to the boundary in the opening over, Smith was hit on the pad next ball, drawing a huge appeal from the West Indies. Umpire Nitin Menon said not out but the West Indies reviewed immediately and replays showed the ball would have crashed into middle stump, leaving Australia 6-1. It was 11-2 in the next over when Labuschagne got a thick edge to fourth slip off Alzarri Joseph, where Kevin Sinclair took a brilliant diving catch to his right. Smith's move up the order was prompted by the Australians' desire to bring Green back into the side. But Green failed in Adelaide and again on Friday, driving Roach on the up to give a simple catch to Kraigg Brathwaite at mid-off. Head, who smashed a brilliant 119 in the first Test, was out first ball, tickling a down the leg side to be caught by wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva. The West Indies resumed the day on 266-8, with debutant Sinclair on 16. The Australian bowlers would have been hoping to wrap up the innings quickly on an oppressively humid day, but Sinclair and Roach frustrated them, batting through the first hour with little difficulty. Roach was eventually run out after the drinks break but Sinclair was in great touch, bringing up his 50 with a four and six off spinner Nathan Lyon. But he played and missed to Lyon on the next ball he faced and was stumped by Alex Carey to close the innings.  

A dream debut by Matthew Forde helped guide the West Indies to a series-clinching four-wicket win over England in the decisive third and final match of their One-Day International series at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday. In a rain-affected encounter, the 21-year-old Barbadian delighted the few home supporters among a majority English audience with figures of three for 29 as the tourists were restricted to 206 for nine off 40 overs after being put in. Then, with the West Indies stuttering at 135 for six in pursuit of a revised target of 188 off 34 overs, Forde (13 not out) joined Romario Shepherd (41 not out) in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 56 to take the Caribbean team to their first ODI series triumph over England for 16 years and their first at home against these opponents for 25 years. "This is a dream come true," said an overwhelmed Forde, who was named Man of the Match, in reflecting on his contribution. "The wicket was a bit tacky so it was just about bowling the right line and length. And when I came in to bat, it was just about turning over the strike and getting Sheppy on strike as often as possible." Brought into the team in place of Oshane Thomas and given use of the new ball, the hometown boy claimed wickets in his first two overs and added a third in his fifth to put England immediately on the back foot. Ben Duckett offered the only substantial resistance with a pugnacious innings of 71, getting meaningful support from Liam Livingstone (45) in a stand of 88 for the sixth wicket after they had slumped to 49 for five in the tenth over. Forde removed Phil Salt to a low catch at mid-off and then had Zak Crawley taken at second slip. He added the wicket of the other opener, Phil Jacks, two overs later via a wicketkeeper's catch. Jacks was almost the unlikely hero for England with the ball, taking three wickets for 22 runs, including topscorer Keacy Carty for 50, to seem to tilt the balance of the match in his side's favour. - A few short - However Jacks and the other slow bowling options Rehan Ahmed and Liam Livingstone could not separate the pair of Shepherd and Forde and when 24 runs were smashed off returning seamer Gus Atkinson in the 30th over, the result was effectively sealed. "We were a few short with the bat," said England captain Jos Buttler in reflecting on the loss. "We fought hard with the ball but it just wasn't enough. This is the start of a long journey for this side. Hopefully we can build something for the future." For West Indies captain Shai Hope, who took the Man of the Series award with a tally of 192 runs at an average of 96 across the three matches, both the result and the contributions of younger players were encouraging. "It's great to see these other guys chipping in with the bat and as long as we continue in this vein it can develop into a very good batting group," he said.   Source: BSS

West Indies seem to have forgotten how to play cricket. The two times World Cup champions came to the Super Six of ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2023 by luck without taking any points from the two matches of the group stage.  But they could not turn around even after getting the opportunity. On Saturday, july 01, Scotland defeated the Caribbean by 7 wickets in the World Cup Qualifier Super Six match at Harare Sports Club ground. Scotland topped the target of 182 runs with 39 balls left. With this loss, the two-time world cup champions have been eliminated from the qualifiers.  This is the first time West Indies will not be able to play the ODI World Cup. On the other hand, Scotland kept their hope alive of going to India by doing an upset. West Indies did not bat well. After losing 6 wickets for 81 runs, Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd battled it out to score total 181 runs in 43.5 overs.  Jason Holder scored 45 and Romario Shepherd scored 36 runs.  Scotland's Brandon McMullen took 3 for 32 and Chris Sole, Mark Watt and Chris Greaves took two wickets each. In reply, Scotland lose their opener Christopher McBride on the very first ball, but then Matthew Cross and Brandon McMullen scored a pair of half-centuries for Scotland to win easily.  McMullen was dismissed for 69 runs. Matthew Cross scored unbeaten 74 runs as winners. Brandon McMullen got the man of the match award.

Bangladesh have won the series by 2-0 difference keeping one match in hand against West Indies. With this win Bangladesh have won the third successive series against the Caribbeans. Earlier Bangladesh played two three-match one day series against West Indies in 2018. Bangladesh won both the series against the team by 2-1 differences. After watching the results of first two matches it is possible for Bangladesh to white wash the existing West Indies team. On the second match, after winning the toss West Indies decided to bat first. After going to bat they showed batting debacle like the first match. At one stage it was thought that they would collapse without scoring three digits on the score board. But the tail enders put adorable individual collections for the team total. After completion of 43.3 overs West Indies were all out for 148 runs. Mehidy Miraz with his career best bowling bagged 4 wickets after sparing 25 runs in the stipulated 10 overs. Shakib and Mustafiz took two wickets each while Hasan Mahmud bagged one. With the target of 149 Bangladesh’s opening pair Tamim and Liton added 30 runs on the score board. Liton was out on the 5.5 overs after scoring 22 runs bowled by Akiel Husein. Nazmul Shanto went to the pavilion after scoring 17 runs beside his name. On the third wicket stand Tamim and Shakib put 32 runs on the score board. Tamim scored his career’s 48th half century and was out for 50 runs. Though Tamim departed but Shakib finished the match. Depending on his unbeaten 43 runs Bangladesh won the match with 16.4 overs to spare. Mushfique was not out for 9 runs. AH

Bangladesh smile at last. What a match have presented Shakib, Tamin, Liton and their fellows. Tigers have survived. Bangladesh reached their target of 322 runs completing 41.3 overs. In the match Shakib scored unbeaten 124 runs and Liton scored also an innings of unbeaten 94 runs. Two openers Tamim and Soumya scored 48 and 29 respectively. Mushfiq scored 1 run.   Earlier, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe decided to field first after winning the toss. The return of the decision came at the beginning. In the fourth over Caribbean opener Chris Gayle went to the pavilion after giving a catch for zero bowled by Saifuddin. Then the wheel of scoring runs began to slow down. But that was not for longer. Lewis and Hope began to play hitting the ball. Lewis was sent back to the dressing room by Shakib after scoring 70 runs of 67 balls. Hope was showing hope for the Caribbean. Pooran added 25 runs to the score board and was also sent back by Shakib. Then Hope and Hetmyer began to dominate over Bangladesh bowlers. This pair added 83 run. Mustafiz sent dangerous Hetmyer back who scored 50 of just 25 balls. Then Holder came and added total 39 runs with Hope in the partnership. Saifuddin took the wicket of Holder. Hope was on the brink of his century but could not make it and was caught out by Liton bowled by Mustafiz. Mustafiz took three wickets giving away 59 runs, Saifuddin bagged three wickets and Shakib two. West Indies collected 321 runs with loss of 8 wickets after completing 50 overs. AH   

Bangladesh team is on field after six days of interval. West Indies are the opponents of tigers on the Coopers Associates County Ground in Taunton on Monday. Both the teams began their world cup journey with win. In their first match West Indians defeated Pakistan. On the other hand the followers of Steve Rhodes began their world cup mission with an alert message after defeating South Africa. After winning the first match both the teams were defeated in two matches and one match was abandoned due to rain. West Indies were defeated after a fighting match against Australia and Bangladesh could not make their last smile after going till the end of the match against New Zealand. The target of both the teams is to turn around. So Bangladesh after winning the toss decided to field first. Darren Bravo is included in the team of West Indies in place of Carlos Braithwaite. For Bangladesh Liton Das is in the field in place of Mohammad Mithun. West Indies eleven: Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (capt), Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Shannon Gabriel Bangladesh eleven: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Liton Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Mustafizur Rahman AH   

West Indies smashed Pakistan by seven wickets in their first World Cup game on Friday at the Trent Bridge, Nottingham.  Pakistan batted first after losing the toss and were bundled for 105 in 21.4 overs. West Indies chased the target of 106 down in 13.4 overs. And with this, the Carribean boys ensured a flying start into the World Cup.  While chasing a small target, Chris Gayle hit a fifty and along the way, hit six fours and three sixes. Besides him, Nicholas Pooran was unbeaten at 34. West Indies were 108 for three in 13.4 overs.  Oshane Thomas was the man of the match for his four-wicket haul for 27 runs.  Earlier, Pakistan were bundled for 105 as they appeared clueless against the pace attack of the Caribbeans.  Pakistan lost three wickets within 10 overs and never looked to overcome the initial damage.  They were tottering in the middle mainly for their weakness against the short deliveries. They lost eight of their 10 wickets to short deliveries.  All of it was started by Sheldon Cottrell as he took the wicket of Imam-ul-Haq (2) by a short delivery which was outside leg stump. Imam went to cut but managed an edge to the wicketkeeper.  Right after him, Sohail Haris (8), Babar Azam (22), Sarfaraz Ahmed (8), Imad Wasim (1), Shadam Khan (0), Hasan Ali (1) and Mohammad Hafeez (16) were also hunted by short deliveries. Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam were the highest scorers for Pakistan hitting 22 each.  Eventually, Pakistan tumbled for 105 all-out in 21.4 overs which is now the third lowest score of Pakistan in World Cup. For West Indies, Oshane Thomas took four wickets for 27 runs in 5.4 overs while Jason Holder bagged three for 42 in 5 overs. Besides them, Andre Russell took two wickets and Sheldon bagged one. Source: UNB AH

At the beginning of the match Bangladesh bowlers have to face the storm of Evin Lewis. It seemed that it was a matter of time for West Indies to score more than two hundred runs. To change the prediction tigers captain played his role as the savior at first. After making Shai Hope out Shakib took the first wicket. Then there was nothing to look back for the tigers bowlers. Shakib, Mahmudullah and Mustafiz all together tied the Caribbean innings within 190 runs. Each of them got three wickets. Lewis made a stormy innings of 89 with just 36 balls. But in T-20, 191 runs is a big target. The beginning of the hosts was good for while. Tamim and Liton managed 22 runs facing 1.4 overs bowling. But the country’s best opener Tamim was run out to take 3 runs while responding a call from Liton. Liton was hitting sixes and fours at the one end. Bangladesh scored 50 runs with facing 3.5 overs bowling. But unfortunately there was untoward situation over a ball of Oshane Thomas. Though field umpire called it as no ball but on television replay it was seen that Thomas’s foot was on the line. On the following over Soumya was caught bowled by Fabian Allen. On the next ball Shakib also returned to the pavilion playing the same kind of shot. Mushfiqur also failed like the previous two matches. He was caught out bowled by Kemo Paul. Soon after Mahmudullah was on his way to the dressing room scoring 11 runs. Then all eyes were on Liton Das. But he disappointed the audiences. He was out for 52 off 25 balls. Ariful then out on the next ball. Saifuddin could not stay on the crease. Later Mehidy Miraz (19) and Abu Haider Rony (22*) tried their best. At last tigers have to accept the defeat of 50 runs after being all out scoring 140 runs with three overs to remain. Kemo Paul took 5 wickets. Bangladesh completed their last game in the year with a defeat and lost the T-20 series 2-1. AH       

The tigers scored the highest runs in the home ground. Earlier in T-20s they scored 215 runs against Sri Lanka in Colombo. If they score more 5 runs toady then they would pass the total runs record. But it is not a simple matter scoring 211 runs against the T-20 world champions. In the first match of the series tigers batting-bowling line up were just broken to the Caribbean. Following that defeat there was fear of series defeat. There was fear- can Bangladesh turn around after the defeat? All that happened. By not keeping those in mind Soumya Sarkar in the earlier day at the press conference said, we are ready to take the challenge. And according to that Bangladesh have turned around against West Indies taking the challenge. They have returned to the series beating the Caribbeans. Now the waiting is for three series win after beating them in the last T-20 match. In the afternoon at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium after winning the toss Caribbean captain sent Bangladesh to bat first. In batting the opening was fabulous between Tamim and Liton Das. But Tamim was out giving a catch from Fabian Allen’s ball after scoring 16 runs. Then the partnership between Soumya and Liton turned violent. The pair scored 68 runs. Soumya scored 32 runs off 22 balls. Liton began to score fast and made his T-20 career second half century with 26 balls. Liton was out scoring 60 runs off 34 balls. Then Mushfique came but went to the pavilion just scoring 1 run. Then Shakib and Mahmudullah took the game to the last stipulated ball. Shakib scored 42 runs off 26 balls and Mahmudullah scored 43 runs off 21 balls. Bangladesh set the giant target of 212 runs losing 4 wickets in the 20 overs. Caribbean Sheldon Cottrell took two wickets, Oshane Thomas and Fabian Allen took one wicket each. But the T-20 world champions were in disarray to chase the huge target. Pacer Abu Haider began the process after making opener Avin Lewes out. Then the Caribbean top order was knocked down by Shakib. From one end Shakib and from the other end Miraz and Mustafiz shared the Windies wickets. Rovman Powell made his career’s first half century in the Caribbean procession of come and go. Shai Hope scored the second highest 36 runs. Kemo Paul made 29 runs. The Caribbeans could not play the full 20 overs. They lost all the wickets after scoring 175 runs from 19.2 overs. Bangladesh thus level the series with the win of 36 runs. Shakib took 5 wickets and adjudicated Man of the Match. Mustafiz took 2 wickets while Abu Haider, Miraz and Mahmudullah bagged one wicket each. The last and series deciding match will be held on December 22. AH                 

‘The shorter the format the more worry for the Caribbean’- the visitors proved the words of the tigers captain a little bit. Bangladesh were worried about the muscle power of the Caribbeans. But in the one day series none can prove that except Shai Hope. In July last in their soil West Indies lost the series to Bangladesh by 2-1 match. The Caribbeans might take a revenge of that but it happened in the reverse way. Bangladesh is irresistible in their home ground which is known a bit by the world. After playing 20 matches in the year Bangladesh won 13 one day internationals. It is the third series win in the year 2018. In July West Indies, in November Zimbabwe and in December West Indies again. It was the first one day match for Sylhet stadium. After winning the toss Bangladesh captain opted to field first on the unknown wicket. But in batting from beginning to end it was uncomfortable for the Caribbeans except Shai Hope. Both the teams had the chance to win the series as it was 1-1. For that the careful Caribbeans lost their first wicket of Chanderpaul Hemraj in the second over. Mehedi Miraz began the havoc. And later the procession of come and go began. But Shai Hope was indomitable. His bat showed the hope for the team and also made his career’s fourth century. But he other batsmen could not overcome the quota of twenty runs. After playing 131 balls Caribbean opener Shai Hope scored unbeaten 108 runs. The team scored 198 runs losing 9 wickets in the stipulated 50 overs. Miraz bagged 4 wickets, Shakib and Mashrafe took two wickets each and Saifuddin grabbed one wicket. To achieve the target of 199 runs, the beginning of Tamim and Liton was fabulous. Scoring 23 runs with four boundaries Liton Das was out giving a catch to Chase bowled by Kemo Paul. Soumya was sent to bat at number three. In the previous two matches he could not prove him batting at six. But today after making a partnership with Tamim Iqbal he managed his career’s seventh half century. Tamim  also hammered his 44th half century. The duo made a partnership of 131 runs to make the 199 runs target a normal one. But Soumya got out when they were 23 runs distance from the victory after scoring 80 off 80 balls. Kemo Paul took the wicket.  Al the end with Mushfique’s 17 and Tamim’s 81 Bangladesh got the huge win of 8 wickets playing 38.2 overs. It is the last one day win or the last series win in the year.     AH