Twitter Reactions: Mashrafe Mortaza and Mushfiqur Rahim deliver in the series opener

Bangladesh continued to keep Windies winless in the first of the three ODIs. It was yet another brilliant performance from the home side as the captain Mashrafe Mortaza led from the front with the ball in his 200th ODI game and then the experience of Mushfiqur Rahim helped Bangladesh ace the chase on a tough pitch.

After opting to bat first, Windies were bombarded with the spin from both the ends for the first few overs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan tied the batsmen up straight away with the latter picking up an early wicket of Kieran Powell. However, surprisingly, Windies soon went into a shell with Darren Bravo taking 51 deliveries to score 19 runs.

His knock put pressure on Shai Hope who was looking fluent. But even he was dismissed on 43 and then the Caribbean innings never got going. It was only due to Roston Chase and Keemo Paul that they played the full quota of 50 overs. The duo added 51 runs for the seventh wicket to take the team’s total close to 200 as the visitors ended their innings on 195/9 after 50 overs.

Not so easy chase

One would’ve felt that Bangladesh will easily gun down the total. But the pitch was extremely tough to bat on and Windies pacers exploited the conditions really well. They kept on taking the wickets of the hosts’ batters and didn’t give up at any stage. Oshane Thomas, once again, was superior with his pace and castled Imrul Kayes with a brilliant delivery. Tamim Iqbal couldn’t enjoy his comeback game and was sent back by Roston Chase.

Amidst the fall of wickets at the other end, Rahim batted bravely and notched up an unbeaten half-century to take his team over the line. Liton Das and Shakib Al Hasan played a little cameos in the process and the middle-order partnerships made sure that Bangladesh never got away with the game. They chased down the total with 89 balls to spare but the road wasn’t so easy for them.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the match:

Without any doubt, Bangladesh is the 2nd best #asian team in odis & nearly unbeatable on their home soil. #BANvWI #BANvsWI #Bangladesh

— Sadman de Turzo (@DeTurzo) December 9, 2018

Yet another ODI victory for @BCBtigers

Last 5 ODI- L W W W W #BANvWI pic.twitter.com/jasWIjZNpj

— Shihab Ahsan Khan (@shihabahsankhan) December 9, 2018

Such an easy and convincing victory for @BCBtigers #Bangladesh🇧🇩! Well played guys! #BANvWI #BANvsWI #Cricket

— Muhammad🇧🇩 فايسال অনি 🇧🇩 (@imfaisalony007) December 9, 2018

Half Century by Mushfiq!
Always a classic batsman.#BANvWI

— Nishan Khan (@IamNishanKhan) December 9, 2018

Subject to debate, but genuinely think this is Bangladesh’s most potent batting lineup going into #WorldCup2019. Would like to see Imrul open though, with Soumya at #3, Liton at either #4 or lower down the order. All 3 look better than Mithun Ali imo. #BANvWI #Tigers 🇧🇩

— Ahnaf (@Fareen21) December 9, 2018

Mustafizur Rahman In His First 8 Overs
8-0-31-0

Mustafizur Rahman In his Last Two Overs 48 & 50th overs of West Indies Inning

2-0-4-3 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Boom Boom FIZZ 👌😍

10-0-35-4 #BANvsWI One Of the Best Limited Death Over Currently..

— #17 ❤️ (@SRKian_Aaftab) December 9, 2018

What a return to action from @TamimOfficial28 with that diving catch. #BANvWI

— Mohammad Isam (@Isam84) December 9, 2018

Mashrafe Mortaza becomes first bangladeshi player to play 200 ODI's.#cricket#BANvWI #WIvBAN

— Cricketstats (@Cricketgeek6) December 9, 2018

Mashrafe Mortaza surpasses Kapil Dev in the most wicket takers list. This achievement comes in his 200th ODI match. #BANvWI

— Imran Hasan (@Imranhasan02) December 9, 2018

The flying bangla man#Tamim_iqbal#bangladesh_vs_west_indies pic.twitter.com/juwd6uaysE

— shafik anam (@shafik_anam007) December 9, 2018