Despite dreaming of victory, Bangladesh fell short. They couldn’t salvage their pride. After already securing the series, the West Indies handed the Tigers a humiliating whitewash this time. Such an occurrence happened after a decade. Bangladesh lost the final ODI by 4 wickets.
After losing the first two matches, Bangladesh faced the West Indies in the third and final match on Thursday. Batting first at Warner Park after losing the toss, Bangladesh posted a competitive total of 321 for 5, supported by four half-centuries.
In reply, Bangladesh raised hopes of victory by reducing the West Indies to 86 for 4. However, debutant Amir Jango dashed those hopes by scoring a century in his very first match. His innings ensured a Caribbean victory in 45.5 overs.
Initially, the bowlers gave Bangladesh a glimmer of hope. They sent three batters back to the pavilion for just 31 runs. Brendon King was run out for 15 off 10 balls, while Nasum Ahmed bowled Alick Athanaze for 7. Hasan Mahmud then dismissed Shai Hope for 3 with a slip catch.
Although the fourth-wicket pair tried to stabilize the innings, Taskin Ahmed broke through. Sherfane Rutherford scored 30 off 33 balls with 5 fours before getting caught. However, the tide of the game changed after that. Amir stunned everyone with his debut performance.
Amir partnered with Casey Carty to form an excellent partnership. Their pairing added 132 runs off 115 balls, bringing the match back into contention. Rishad finally dismissed Carty for 95 off 88 balls, narrowly denying him a century.
Rishad also removed Roston Chase for 12, leaving the hosts at 234 for 6 in 37.1 overs. But Amir, along with Gudakesh Motie, sealed the victory. Their aggressive partnership added 90 runs off just 53 balls. Motie remained unbeaten on 44 off 31 balls, while Amir finished with 104 not out off 83 balls, earning the Player of the Match award on debut. Despite Rishad taking two wickets, Bangladesh couldn’t avoid their first whitewash to the West Indies since 2014.
Earlier, Bangladesh’s innings had a rocky start. They lost two wickets for just 9 runs in 2.4 overs, putting them under early pressure. Tanzid Tamim and Liton Das both failed to open their accounts. Tanzid fell as Joseph’s first victim, out for a duck after facing 5 balls. Liton also departed for 0 off 2 balls, continuing his poor form.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Soumya Sarkar then steadied the innings. While Miraz looked fluent from the start, Soumya took some time to settle before accelerating. Miraz reached his second fifty of the series off 56 balls, followed by Soumya, who took 58 balls for his half-century. The duo added 136 runs off 126 balls.
Soumya fell to an LBW trap for 73 off 73 balls, while Miraz was run out for 77 runs off 73 balls due to a direct hit by Rutherford. Soon after, Afif Hossain also departed cheaply, scoring only 15 off 29 balls.
When Bangladesh faced a potential collapse, Mahmudullah Riyad took charge once again. After scoring 50* off 44 balls in the first match and 62 off 92 balls in the second, he played aggressively in this match as well.
He was ably supported by Zakir Ali, who scored his maiden ODI fifty. Zakir remained unbeaten on 62 off 57 balls, helping Bangladesh post a challenging total of 321 for 5. However, that proved insufficient to avoid a series whitewash.
