West Indies 266 for 4 (Sarwan 102*, Samuels 82) beat Bangladesh 182 (Mohammad Ashraful 44, Khaled Masud 40, Drakes 4-18) by 84 runs
Scorecard

Ramnaresh Sarwan's maiden one-day hundred gave West Indies the impetus to power to a facile 84-run victory over Bangladesh in the second one-day international at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka. They now lead the series 1-0, after the first match at Chittagong was abandoned because of rain.

"Free at last, free at last," may have been the words on Sarwan's lips after a dramatic final-ball edge for four that took him to his first international hundred. The burden of expectation had weighed heavily on him for two seasons since his debut and his relief was palpable. His efforts, coupled with a classy 82 from Marlon Samuels, allowed West Indies to post an imposing total of 266 for 4, on a pitch where strokemaking was far from easy.

After deciding to bat first, they got off to the worst possible start, losing Wavell Hinds leg-before for 0, to Tapash Baisya. With both Manjurul Islam and Baisya bowling well early on, runs were hard to come by and West Indies' plight worsened when an out-of-sorts Chris Gayle nicked one from Manjurul through to Khaled Masud after labouring over 21 (37 for 2).

On a slow pitch where some deliveries shot through at shin height, Sarwan and Samuels took their time with the salvage act. But once the innings neared the business end, they accelerated quite beautifully.

Both Samuels and Sarwan thrived by resorting to orthodox strokes as the bowling and fielding wilted. Samuels, after surviving a controversial run-out (obstructed by the bowler, according to the umpire), thumped two sixes on his way to 82 before he was bowled by Naimur Rahman (183 for 3).

Ricardo Powell never got going and was cleaned up by the newcomer Ehsanul Haque (214 for 4), but the final stages belonged to Sarwan, who faced the last two balls needing two runs to reach that elusive landmark. The first one missed the outside edge and Daren Ganga, who finished with 22, refused the chance to run a leg-bye.

That set the stage for the last-ball heroics. The decisive stroke may have been a thick outside-edge, but Sarwan - who came close to three figures so often in India - won't care one jot.

The run-chase was well beyond Bangladesh's limited ability. Al-Shahriar Rokon played all over the first ball of the innings from Vasbert Drakes to set the tone and, despite a defiant 44 from Mohammad Ashraful, the asking rate had reached astronomical proportions by the 15th over.

By then, Drakes had already added to his easy pickings for the series, having Ehsanul caught by Gayle and comprehensively bowling Habibul Bashar first ball (34 for 3).

Sanwar Hossain was leg-before to Jermaine Lawson for 13 (59 for 4), and Alok Kapali provided Ridley Jacobs with the simplest of stumpings off Mahendra Nagamootoo (94 for 6), soon after Ashraful's vigil had been ended by an ill-advised slash to backward point.

With defeat writ in stone, Masud and Naimur bolted the empty stable, as West Indies relaxed their grip somewhat. Masud made 40 and Naimur 37 before Drakes - who finished with 4 for 18 to complement his 4 for 26 in the first game - and Cameron Cuffy returned to wrap things up.

But the late flurry of runs did nothing to disguise that this is perhaps the weakest batting line-up that international cricket has ever seen. New Zealand managed 26 against Statham, Tyson and Co. in 1955. This lot would have struggled to make 10. And most of those might have come from Ashraful, who seems an oasis of talent in a very, very barren land.

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