Taunton: West Indies youngster Shimron Hetmyer smashed the joint fastest fifty of the ongoing Cricket World Cup and Shai Hope scored 96 runs off 121 balls as Windies set the target of 322 runs in front of Mashrafe Mortaza -led outfit, here, on Monday.
Asked to bat first, West Indies' start was slow and conscious and taking advantage of their approach Mohammad Saifuddin draw the first blood for their side bu removing swashbuckling Chris Gayle from the attack in the fourth over of the match.
Evin Lewis and Shai Hope put West Indies back on track after the early departure of Gayle. The duo added 116 runs for the first wicket. However, just when they were looking to do some damage to Bangladesh, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan gave them the second jolt by removing Lewis from the attack. Lewis' 70 run knock was laced with six fours and two sixes.
Nicholas Pooran walked to bat at number four but never looked in touch as the wicket-keeper batsman became the second victim of Hasan.
After Hasan's departure, Shimron Hetmyer joined Hope in the middle and went after Bangladesh bowlers. Hetmyer gave his side much needed boost in the run rate department as the batsman smashed 50 runs off just 26 balls with the balls four fours and three sixes.
Mustafizur Rahman brought his side back into the game in the 40th over by removing Hetymer and all-rounder Andre Russell in a single over.
Jason Holder and Darren Bravo gave West Indies a flying finish as the duo scored 33 runs off 15 balls and 19 runs off 15 balls respectively.
For Bangladesh Mohammad Saifuddin and Mustafizur Rahman bagged three wickets while Shakib Al Hasan picked two wickets.
Brief Score: West Indies 321/8 (Shai Hope 96, Evin Lewis 70; Mustafizur Rahman 3/59)
