West Indies Vs Bangladesh Match Today

West Indies Vs Bangladesh 13 September 2007

Match Start Timing 8.00 GMT

Team Bangladesh

The young, talented Bangladeshi side shone on the world stage at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 with stunning victories over India and South Africa. It will be looking to have a similar impact at the ICC World Twenty20.

But it will face one of the toughest groups at the event, having to take on host nation South African and the West Indies who were ICC Champions Trophy 2006 runners-up, in the opening stage.

Although there were some inconsistent performances in the Caribbean, most notably in its defeat to Ireland in the Super Eight stage, there were plenty of positives to take from the event with a number of players establishing themselves as household names.

Captain Mohammad Ashraful’s masterful 87 against South Africa was one of the innings of the tournament at the CWC 2007, while Tamim Iqbal’s 51 against India at almost run-a-ball illustrated his potential to have an impact on cricket’s biggest stage.

While Bangladesh rely on its spin bowlers, which will force the batsmen to generate their own pace off the ball in Twenty20 cricket, the pace of Mashrafe Mortaza will undoubtedly cause problems for even the best of batsmen.

An outstanding fielding side, Ashraful’s men will also be one of the teams to watch in terms of athleticism, which will help heap pressure on opposing batsmen which is vital in such a short form of the game.

Bangladesh’s only experience of Twenty20 cricket at international level, prior to the CWC 2007, was a defeat of Zimbabwe in November 2006.

And while Bangladesh may be inexperienced at this level and in the Twenty20 format the fact they have tasted victory over some of world cricket’s super powers in ODI cricket, both at the CWC 2007 and in its famous victory over Australia at Cardiff in 2005, means it will be a team to watch closely at this event.

Team West Indies

After the disappointment of its CWC 2007 campaign, the West Indies will be looking to rediscover its form at the ICC World Twenty20.

But it will need to be at the top of its game to succeed in the tournament, particularly in such a difficult group with host nation South Africa as well as Bangladesh, whose outstanding victories over India and South Africa at the CWC 2007 make it a force to be reckoned with.

Having won its opening game in the CWC 2007 against Pakistan, the West Indies then failed to live up to expectations in the Super Eight stage, putting up a string of hugely disappointing performances.

The West Indies will be looking for Chris Gayle, Player of the Tournament at the ICC Champions Trophy 2006, to rediscover his form after a disappointing campaign in the Caribbean at the CWC 2007. And with the retirement of former skipper Brian Lara, there will also be pressure on captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels to deliver with the bat.

While Daren Powell and Dwayne Bravo had their moments with the ball at the CWC 2007, there was no single consistent performer, or anybody able to deliver match-winning performances such as Jerome Taylor’s display against Australia at the ICC Champions Trophy 2006, where his hat-trick sealed the match.

n its first Twenty20 game, the West Indies enjoyed a thrilling tie with New Zealand, with the match only settled when the Kiwis comprehensively won the bowl-out 3-0.
It then drew a two-match series in England in June 2007. In the opening game, England never really looked like reaching its target of 209, following Devon Smith’s 61 off 34 balls and Marlon Samuels’ 51 off 26 balls, and the West Indies won by 15 runs.

It was a different story the following day though, as England won by five wickets, despite an impressive 61 by Gayle and 42 from Samuels.

The domestic Stanford Twenty20 tournament showed that the Caribbean is passionate about this format of the game and nothing would revitalise spirits in the West Indies more than the team bringing the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 trophy home.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (Captain)
Chris Gayle
Daren Powell

Darren Sammy
Denesh Ramdin
Devon Smith

Dwayne Bravo
Dwayne Smith
Fidel Edwards

Marlon Samuels
Narsingh Deonarine
Pedro Collins

Ravi Rampaul
Runako Morton
Shivnarine Chanderpaul