BAN VS WI 2ND T20I

So, West Indies claim their second T20I series win of this calendar year, having already conquered Ireland earlier. This also marks West Indies' third consecutive T20I series win against Bangladesh in Bangladesh. They will now be eyeing to execute a clean sweep. It's been a disappointing series for Bangladesh so far. The series is gone, but there's still pride on the line. They'll be desperate to bounce back in the final game and avoid the whitewash, but have a lot of introspection to be done, especially with their approach while batting. That wraps it up, then. The third and final T20I will be played at the same venue of Chattogram on Friday, 31st October, with the first ball scheduled to be bowled at 12 pm GMT. Do join us for all the pre-match analysis an hour earlier. But until then, it is goodbye, only to meet again. Take care, cheers!

The victorious captain of West Indies, Shai Hope, says that they mentioned at the halfway stage that they could've got anything near 190, but admits that they fell well short of that figure. Adds that they still believed they could defend the target and the bowlers did extremely well. Mentions that they did not do themselves any favours with the dropped catches but in the end, they got over the line and that is what matters. Says that he is very happy with the series win, and they will try to make it 3-0 and go on a high to New Zealand.

West Indies' Romario Shepherd bags the PLAYER OF THE MATCH award for his exceptional bowling spell. He starts by acknowledging how tough it was to score freely at the death and stresses they needed a strong start with the ball. He praises Holder and Seales for doing exactly that in the Powerplay, hitting the right areas consistently. Shepherd points out that defending a modest total like this left zero margin for error. He owns up to their poor day in the field but says they quickly put it behind them and stayed focused on their plans. With a cheeky grin, he reckons the fielding coach will be fuming, especially after how sharp they were in the previous match.

The captain of Bangladesh, Litton Das, reflects on the defeat. He says that in the last 2-3 series, the bowlers have done really well and he feels sorry for them as they couldn't get the job done. Adds that 150 is not a big score, especially here in Chattogram but whenever the batters got stuck, they gave their wickets away. Mentions that they need to improve on that and he himself also needs to do well, as he thinks if he batted till the 12th-13th overs, the game could have finished earlier. Says that West Indies didn't field like the way they did in the first game, where they took excellent catches, but it matters little as they failed to achieve the target. Ends by saying that he is still looking forward to the last game and wants to finish on a high note for the home crowd.

... THE PRESENTATION CEREMONY ...

Earlier in the game, West Indies chose to bat first under Chattogram's humid weather. What looked certain to be a 200-plus total turned into a horror show. The tourists stormed to 94/1 in the first ten overs, with Shai Hope and Alick Athanze putting on a destructive 105-run partnership, both scoring their respective fifties. Then came the collapse. Reckless shot selection and strangling bowling flipped the script completely. From a commanding 106/1, West Indies crashed to 149/9, with every big name failing when it mattered. They only managed 55 runs in the final ten overs, losing eight wickets. Nasum Ahmed sparked the meltdown with crucial breakthroughs after getting hammered early, but Mustafizur Rahman was the real executioner, producing another masterclass with a deadly 3-wicket haul. What should've been a dominant score ended up way below par.

Credit where it's due, though. West Indies bowlers were outstanding through and through, and especially in that middle phase. Despite dropping as many as four catches and being extremely sloppy in the ground fielding as well, they managed a remarkable chokehold with the ball. Akeal Hosein extracted serious turn from the surface while the pacers worked their magic with clever variations and slower balls, never allowing the batters to free their arms. And once Tanzid Hasan was dismissed by Romario Shepherd, the tourists just gatecrashed to claim a famous win. Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd ended up with 3 wickets apiece, while Jason Holder bagged two to his name.

Both batters cashed in with a 35-run stand before Akeal Hosein produced an absolute ripper to dismiss Das, dragging West Indies right back into the contest and forcing Bangladesh into yet another rebuilding phase. The pitch offered enough grip for the spinners, and with no dew in sight, they strangled the middle overs brilliantly. All Bangladesh needed was one solid partnership to bring this chase home, but they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Tanzid Hasan crafted a superb fifty but got zero support from his partners, with Jaker Ali unable to time anything cleanly. Suffocated by mounting dot balls and dried-up boundaries, Hasan perished at the worst possible moment for Bangladesh, and with that, the game slipped beyond their grasp. To be very honest, Bangladesh left too much to climb in the backend and crumbled badly and for the second time in a row, they have failed to construct a successful run chase.

Chasing a modest 150, Bangladesh made a shaky start and lost Saif Hassan inside the opening exchanges. Seales and Holder were bang on target early, keeping things incredibly tight. But Litton Das brought composure with some elegant stroke play. The first three overs yielded just 12 runs, yet the next three exploded for 25, including a crucial reprieve when Litton was dropped on 20. By the end of the Powerplay, the scales were level at 37/1.

The Caribbean flair lights up Chattogram as West Indies win this 3-match T20I series in style by 2-0, with a game to go. What a defence of a below-par total this has been from Shai Hope and his men, not once, but twice on the trot in this series! West Indies surely must have felt they left 20-25 runs out there, with 150 looking anything but challenging. But Bangladesh choked massively under pressure, and their streak of four consecutive T20I series wins comes to a crashing end, and stingingly, in front of their own faithful.

OUT! DRAGGED ON! Akeal Hosein wraps things up with a three-fer! He fires this one full and on off, angling it away. Nasum Ahmed goes down to slog sweep it but gets an inside edge onto his pads, and then the ball deflects away to hit the stumps. WEST INDIES WIN BY 14 RUNS AND GO 2-0 UP IN THE SERIES!

OUT! DRAGGED ON! Akeal Hosein wraps things up with a three-fer! He fires this one full and on off, angling it away. Nasum Ahmed goes down to slog sweep it but gets an inside edge onto his pads, and then the ball deflects away to hit the stumps. WEST INDIES WIN BY 14 RUNS AND GO 2-0 UP IN THE SERIES!

Quicker, full and outside off, Nasum Ahmed swings hard at it but gets a bottom edge onto the ground and then onto the keeper's pads as the ball goes nowhere.

Drags his length back, on off, Nasum Ahmed heaves it towards deep mid-wicket for a brace. It is West Indies' game now, barring any extras.

Nasum Ahmed walks in at number 9.

OUT! TAKEN! The last hope for Bangladesh goes back to the hut now! Slower through the air, shortish and around off, gets it to turn away too. Rishad Hossain tries to reach it and loft it down the ground but gets it from the toe-end of the bat. It flies in the air towards long off, where Rovman Powell runs forward a bit and takes a nice catch. Bangladesh are seven down now, still needing 17 runs in 3 balls.

OUT! TAKEN! The last hope for Bangladesh goes back to the hut now! Slower through the air, shortish and around off, gets it to turn away too. Rishad Hossain tries to reach it and loft it down the ground but gets it from the toe-end of the bat. It flies in the air towards long off, where Rovman Powell runs forward a bit and takes a nice catch. Bangladesh are seven down now, still needing 17 runs in 3 balls.

Good recovery in the field! Short again and around off, Tanzim Hasan Sakib slaps it wide of sweeper covers. Alick Athanaze almost overruns it to his right, but manages to get his hands to the other side to grab it. Just one. 17 runs needed in 4 balls now!