T20 World Cup / Russell bowls magical last over as West Indies edge Bangladesh in thriller

T20 World Cup | Man-of-the-match Nicholas Pooran (40) and all-rounder Jason Holder (15) followed by a brilliant last over from Andre Russell helped the West Indies in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 against Bangladesh at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday. They kept their hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive by winning the match by three runs in Group 1 of the 12 stage. Batting first, West Indies, losing the toss, scored 142 for 7 and then restricted Bangladesh to 139 for 5 in 20 overs. Bangladesh needed a four to win off the last ball of the last over of the innings, but Russell bowled the best ball and put the win in the hands of the Windies. Nicholas Pooran was given the Player of the Match award for his outstanding innings.

Liton Das scored 44 runs in 43 balls for Bangladesh. He also hit four fours in his innings. However, he could not lead the team to victory. This is West Indies' first win in three matches and their hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the tournament are still alive. This is Bangladesh's third consecutive defeat in the tournament and after this defeat, the doors to the semi-finals are almost closed for Bangla Tigers.

Apart from Das, captain Mahmudullah played an unbeaten 31 runs off 24 balls with the help of two fours and a six. But he could not hit a boundary on the last ball and the team had to face defeat. At the same time, Mohammad Naeem scored 17, Shakib Al Hasan scored nine, Soumya Sarkar scored 17 and Mushfiqur Rahim scored eight runs. Ravi Rampaul, Jason Holder, Andre Russell, Akil Hossain and Dwayne Bravo took one wicket each for the Windies.

Earlier, batting first, West Indies scored 142 for seven after losing the toss. For the team, Nicholas Pooran scored the highest 40 runs in 22 balls with the help of one four and four sixes. Apart from him, Roston Chase, who played his debut T20 International match, scored 39 runs. There was a partnership of 57 runs between the two batsmen. At the same time, Jason Holder scored an unbeaten 15 off five balls with the help of two sixes and captain Kieron Pollard scored an unbeaten 14. For Bangladesh, Mehdi Hasan, Mustafizur Rahim and Shoriful Islam took two wickets each.