Marlon Samuels rode his luck for a century as the West Indies overcame some nervous moments to beat Bangladesh by four wickets in the third one-day international on Wednesday and keep the series alive after losing the first two matches.
Samuels’ 126 anchored the chase as the West Indies reached 228 with three overs in hand after their spinners, led by Sunil Narine (4-37), had restricted Bangladesh to 227 in 49.1 overs.
The visitors trail the five-match series 2-1.
The West Indies lost opener Chris Gayle for 4, but Samuels steadied the innings thanks to a 111-run second-wicket stand with Kieran Powell (47), who replaced out of form Lendl Simmons.
Mahmudullah broke the dogged partnership when he dragged Powell out of his crease for Mushfiqur Rahim to complete the stumping and put Bangladesh back in the contest.
Off-spinner Sohag Gazi got rid of Darren Bravo for 13 before Abdur Razzak took the wickets of Dwayne Smith (4) and Kieran Pollard (1), to give the West Indies the jitters.
However, Samuels somehow survived to ensure the West Indies did not throw the match away and his 149-ball innings included 17 fours and two sixes.
“It’s a difficult pitch to bat on and runs on the board are always meant to be difficult to get,” Samuels told reporters.
“Its just the way I approached it. I went and batted at three and I knew that the pitch was turning and that I had the technique to bat in the early overs and so the other batsmen could bat around me,” he said.
However, the right-hander lived dangerously.
Rahim dropped an edge off Mahmudullah on 61 before Mashrafe Mortaza grassed a catch at slip with Samuels on 96.
When Mortaza finally got him out, the match was all but over.
Narine earlier made the most out of the turning wicket to derail Bangladesh’s top order after Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque gave the home side a positive start with a 57-run opening stand.
Narine dismissed Tamim (22) and then Naeem Islam (4) in one over before he had Anamul for 33.
Debutant Veerasammy Permaul then removed Nasir Hossain and Gayle join the attack to send back Mominul Haque (12) as Bangladesh reached 110-5.
Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah rescued the hosts from an embarrassing total but the batting powerplay did the damage.
Bangladesh only added 14 runs in the five overs of powerplay and lost the wickets of Mushfiqur (38) and Mashrafe in the process.
Mahmudullah, who was out for 52, and Gazi (30) provided some late resistance.
INDIA V ENGLAND
Staff writer, with agencies
In Kolkata, England captain Alastair Cook yesterday hit an unbeaten 136 to break one of the oldest records in the English book by overtaking Wally Hammond, Colin Cowdrey and Geoff Boycott with his 23rd hundred.
Nick Compton was earlier out for 57, while Jonathan Trott was 21 not out at stumps to take England to 216 for one.
England are trailing India by 100 runs with nine wickets remaining in the first innings of the first Test.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was