WI vs BAN Highlights T20 World Cup 2021: Russell bowls magical last over as West Indies edge Bangladesh in thriller

GONE! Hetmyer holes out in the deep and West Indies are in trouble. These tactics are not working for the Windies. Relief for Hasan. A dropped catch followed by a wicket. Hetmyer goes inside out but neither good timing or elevation. The catch is taken and rightfully, a dejected Hetmyer walks off. 

Mahedi Hasan puts down a straight forward chance. He drops it short and Chase hits it right back at the bowler. But probably Hasan wasn't ready for it. He gets both his hands to it but grasses it. The commentator calls it a big miss. Will it prove to be so?

Just two boundaries in the first 6 overs. Not the kind of start West Indies would have hoped for. And to make matters worse, they have lost openers Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis already. Chase and Hetmyer in with a huge task of rebuilding the innings. From 50/1 against England, WI have been restricted to 29/2 by Bangladesh.

Two identical deliveries from Shoriful, hitting Chase on the pads as the ball stays low on both instances. On both occasions though, the ball landed outside leg. No movement from the umpire and rightly so.

Shoriful Islam gets the ball and he starts off by straying a delivery on Shimron Hetmyer's pads. The left-handed batsman plays the glance and places the ball nicely wide of the fielder at short third man as the ball goes away into the boundary ropes.  

Bowled him! Mahedi Hasan with the big wicket of Chris Gayle. West Indies. Full and quick and the Universe Boss has no answer to it. Sound of timberrr… WI are 2 down and without much on the board.

The news is that Shakib Al Hasan has left the field. He looked in trouble and hobbled off the ground. Not encouraging sings but B'desh would hope this is nothing serious.

Wicket! Mustafizur gets the in-form Evin Lewis. Bangladesh lose their first wicket. On the pads but Lewis, trying to heave the ball on the leg side gets a top edge and Mushfiqur Rahim takes the catch.

Mustafizur gets the ball to drift in, beating Gayle as it raps him on the pads. A huge appeal follows but not out given by the umpire as the ball seemed to be going down leg.

Oh dear! Bangladesh have missed hitting the bull's eye. Gayle tucked the ball and took off. There was no run and Gayle surely isn't the swiftest of runners. Shakib had all the time in the world to line himself for the throw. However, he has a shy at the stumps and misses it. Gayle wasn't even the frame. Will Bangladesh live to regret this?

Evin Lewis is away. After three dot balls, Lewis' eyes widen watching that juicy half-volley outside off from Taskin. Hammers it away through covers for the first boundary of the innings.

Spin from one end, and pacer from the other. In comes Taskin Ahmed storming in against Gayle. Remember, Gayle these days takes time to get the big guns out and Bangladesh would want Taskin to test the big-hitter's patience. 

He's kept it tight, has Mahedi Hasan. Bowling to Gayle and Lewis, the spinner gave away just 4 in the first over, including a close LBW shout against Lewis. Four singles from the first over.

Mahedi Hasan with the ball in hand, up against West Indies' destructive duo of Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. What a welcome change to see The Universe Boss back at the top opening the innings for the Windies.

It's time for the all-important toss. Pollard and Mahmudullah are out there for the flip of the coin. Tails is the call and tails it is… Bangladesh have opted to bowl. Team news as follows: Nurul, Nasum are not playing for Bangladesh. For West Indies: Simmons out and Holder in, Roston Chase makes his T20I debut.

Nine out of 10 times has the team chasing won the Super 12 matches in Sharjah. The average first-innings total at this venue is 136. 

Laxman says it is a no-brainer and that if it were up to him, he would pick Jason Holder in the team. As for Lendl Simmons, he doesn't have much backing at this point. Ideal combo would be to make Lewis and Gayle open with Holder replacing Simmons. 

The all-important toss is just 15 minutes away. The pattern in the T20 World Cup has favoured teams batting second. But since this is a day game, the dew factor won't be a problem for the team bowling second. Remember, Pollard and Mahmudullah's WI and BAN need a win to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

England and Australia are right at the top with 4 points each after a couple of wins. They are followed by South Africa and Sri Lanka who have lost one and won one each. At fifth and sixth are Bangladesh and West Indies respectively, without a single win. The defending champions' NRR of -2.550 sees them struggling right at the bottom.

It was highly shocking when Jason Holder, one of West Indies' all-time greats, did not find a place in the team's squad for the T20 World Cup. But as fate would have it, he has been included in the 15 as an injury replacement for Obed McCoy. Coming off playing the IPL, Holder has picked up 10 wickets in Sharjah, which is a promising sign for WI ahead of their game against Bangladesh. Additionally, do not count out his value with the bat and that ability to deliver some lusty blows towards the end.

Barring his heated exchange in the game against Sri Lanka, Liton Das hasn't made much noise in the tournament so far. As a matter of fact, Das has been struggling for runs the entire year, scoring just 140 runs in 13 innings at a lowly average of 10.74. But at the same time, Das has two half-centuries against West Indies and today might be a good time to get a third, and then some.

Believe it! Nicholas Pooran is being talked of highly in the West Indies cricketing circuit. Some even call him the next Chris Gayle. However, Pooran, in his entire career, has blown hot and cold. Having said that, Pooran has been West Indies' third highest run-getter this year in T20Is, with 286 runs from 15 innings. When it comes to Bangladesh, Pooran has tallied 66 runs in 3 innings and he would hope to build on it if West Indies are to hold on. 

A lot was expected of left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, but the Bangladesh seamer has so far failed to make any impact for his team whatsoever. Wicketless so far in the UAE, Mustafizur would look to regain his touch against West Indies, a team he has a decent record against with 13 wickets from six innings. He has dismissed Evin Lewis and Andre Russell twice, and boy, wouldn't this be a great time for the Fizz to produce a repeat of it. 

Among West Indies batters, Evin Lewis has stood out. He scored a half-century against South Africa and looked in good nick before getting out. Against Bangladesh, Lewis has scored 111 runs from 5 innings including an 18-ball fifty the last time these two teams squared off. 

The leading wicket-taker at the T20 World Cups with 41 scalps, West Indies would be wary of the wily Bangladesh all-rounder. After all, Shakib boasts a fine record against them having picked up 19 wickets from 10 games. In fact, his best T20 bowling figures - 5/20 was in fact, against West Indies in 2018. Besides, with the bat, Shakib has scored 185 runs across the last five innings against WI. Pollard and his team, be worried. Be very worried.