Bangladesh 202 for 2 (Tamim 81*, Soumya 80) beat West Indies 198 for 9 (Hope 108*, Mehidy 4-29) by eight wickets
Soumya Sarkar and Tamim Iqbal chose the scenic route to Bangladesh's eight-wicket win over West Indies in Sylhet to clinch the three-match ODI series 2-1. Soumya's attacking 80 was complemented by Tamim's unbeaten 81, which came after Mehidy Hasan dipped his offbreaks to perfection in a career-best bowling performance.
It was Bangladesh's eighth bilateral series win (out of 12) since the 2015 World Cup, with two of those now coming against West Indies this year. Shai Hope's unbeaten century was West Indies' only moment of happiness as the visitors lost both Tests and ODI series in Bangladesh, a first for any major side touring the country.
Bangladesh first sparked a batting collapse during the middle overs as West Indies lost three wickets for three runs in 22 balls. They slipped from 96 for 2 in the 23rd over to 99 for 5 in the 26th. Hope, who made an unbeaten 108 playing the full 50 overs, had to rely on the lower order to reach his fourth ODI hundred, but it was hardly going to take the control out of Bangladesh's grip.
Tamim then did what an experienced batsman should do in a 199 chase. He batted sensibly, while Liton Das and Soumya blasted the bowlers at the other end. At times, Tamim too drove down the ground and flicked off his pads for fours but he largely focused on collecting singles.
Liton's punches through cover and mid-off fetched him four of his five fours. But his impulsive strokeplay - this time a swipe across the line that was caught at mid-on - cut short his stay at the crease, for a 33-ball 23.
Soumya, who had started off with a sublime on-drive off Keemo Paul, was otherwise devastating against spin. He lifted Marlon Samuels, Fabien Allen and Devendra Bishoo for five sixes.
Samuels was hit over midwicket and long-off, while the two off Allen were sent high over the midwicket boundary. In the 34th over of the innings, he launched Bishoo over cover for his fifth six, before striking him for two fours to finish off the over. Paul eventually got him for an 81-ball 80, ending the 131-run second-wicket stand.
Mushfiqur Rahim struck two fours and an upper-cut six before Tamim's two fours off Rovman Powell in the 39th over got Bangladesh to the win. But the foundation of this win was laid down when Mohammad Saifuddin sparked the collapse with Samuels driving aimlessly at an offcutter, to be bowled for 19. It ended a promising 39-run third-wicket stand between Samuels and Hope before Mehidy got into the act.
Having already removed Chandrapaul Hemraj and Darren Bravo, Mehidy dismissed Shimron Hetmyer for the sixth time in seven innings on this tour, this time lbw for a duck. It ended a poor ODI series for Hetmyer who was sparkling in the Test series. Powell's wicket was his fourth, caught behind to a delivery that he expected to turn. Powell made just 16 runs in the series, making it a dreadful subcontinent tour on which he scored 77 runs in eight innings at an average 9.62.
Shakib Al Hasan then removed Roston Chase and Allen, both caught in the deep. Chase mis-hit one to long-off, while Mohammad Mithun dived forward at deep midwicket to complete Allen's catch.
Hope meanwhile stood firm at the other end, having carried the confidence from his unbeaten 146 in the second game, which led to a hard-fought four-wicket win. He struck four boundaries through the covers, one through midwicket and two down the ground.
Hope moved from 94 to his hundred with a straight six off Shakib. All the Bangladesh players shook hands with him at the end of the West Indies innings, while the Sylhet crowd was generous in applaud. But all the cheers for the rest of the day went to the homeboys.
