West Indies were left needing 15 off the last over, which was bowled to perfection and Nazmul conceded only three runs while picking up two wickets, giving the batsmen no chance.
Powered by half-centuries from Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan which was backed up by an excellent final over from Nazmul Islam, Bangladesh won the second T20I against the West Indies by 12 runs to tie the series at one apiece ahead of the series-decider at Lauderhill tomorrow.
West Indies were left needing 15 off the last over, which was bowled to perfection and Nazmul conceded only three runs while picking up two wickets, giving the batsmen no chance.
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Andre Fletcher had set the tone for the hosts with his 38-ball 43 after seeing his opening partner Evin Lewis's (1 off 3 balls) misery continue. Andre Russel (17 off 10), Dinesh Ramdin (5 off 11) and Marlon Samuels (10 off 3) all failed to fire, leaving the home side at 58 for four after 7.1 overs.
However, the dangerous Rovmna Powell, whose heroic 41-ball 77 in the third ODI had gone in vain, was determined to not be denied again. He racked up 43 runs off just 34 balls with three fours and two sixes before being done in by Mustafizur Rahman off the third ball of the penultimate over.
However, Nurse picked up where Powell had left off, hitting Mustafizur's final two balls for a four and six after Keemo Paul had taken a single. The Fizz finished as the most expensive of Bangladesh's bowlers, trading 50 runs for three wickets.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan said that belief played an important role in them coming back to win the second T20 match to level the series 1-1 after the defeat as St. Kitts. Tamim Iqbal, who played a magnificent 44-ball 74 knock meanwhile pointed out how Shakib was able to take the pressure off him and the team.
“I think the belief did it for us, after the loss in St Kitts. We had a good chat, had come to an agreement that we could beat this West Indies side. We had to play our best game and the belief helped. The mindset changed the momentum," Shakib said after the match.
The momentum certainly shifted towards Shakib’s side when he and Tamim starred once more in a game-changing partnership. The pair put on 90 for the fourth wicket as both batsmen struck important half tons.
The fifty must have been a special one for the skipper in particular as it was his first since becoming captain of the Tigers’ T20 side. He paced his innings well during the 38-ball 60 knock, taking pressure off Tamim Iqbal during important stages of the partnership. Tamim Iqbal heaped praise on the T20 skipper for his knock as Tigers won by 12 runs.
“He played an unbelievable innings I thought. He took a lot of pressure from us and especially me, since we did not have a great start. As soon as he came in, he was looking very good. He got few early boundaries and then you are up and running,” said Tamim Iqbal about Shakib’s innings.
Shakib fell in the last over of the innings but not before he made good on the promise that Tigers can post a big total if the opportunity was there to bat first at Florida. Tamim and Shakib once again showed that they were the perfect foils for each other and this time they did it in the shortest format of the game.
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That brilliant over saw Nazmul finishing with the sublime if somewhat flattering figures of three wickets for 28 runs in his four overs.However, Nurse and Paul were almost powerless in the final over. Paul managed a single off the second ball and off the third, Nurse was caught in the deep by Ariful Haque. He then bowled another dot before Paul was bowled trying to heave into the stands.
Earlier, Tamim Iqbal opened the innings alongside Liton Das after Bangladesh were sent in to bat by the hosts and the left-hander, who was dismissed for a duck in the first T20I, found his rhythm again, hitting 74 off just 44 with six fours and four sixes.
His partner departed cheaply for only one run and Mushfiqur Rahim, who came in next, did not last much longer. He departed for four runs off as many balls as Bangladesh crashed to 24 for two inside four overs.
Soumya Sarkar added 14 runs before departing before Shakib and Tamim formed a vital partnership of 90 runs that took Bangladesh to 138 at the end of the 16th over.
Tamim departed off the last ball of the 16th over, but not before taking Andre Russel for 22 runs in the five previous balls.
Shakib, who hit a blistering 60 off 48 balls with nine fours and a six, and Mahmudullah, who was unbeaten for a 10-ball 13, then did some good work to add 33 runs in the final four overs.
Ashley Nurse and Keemo Paul took two wickets each for the home side.
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