Windies rout Bangladesh to stay alive in World T20

Dwayne Smith smashed 72 off 43 balls before spinner Samuel Badree claimed 4-15 as the West Indies thrashed hosts Bangladesh by 73 runs in a key World Twenty20 match in Dhaka on Tuesday. The defending champions, who needed a win to stay in contention for the semi-finals after losing to India on Sunday, piled up 171-7 and then bowled out  Bangladesh for a paltry 98 in the Super-10 group two match. Chris Gayle hit a run-a-ball 48 in an impressive batting display by the West Indies after the hosts won the toss and elected to field before a sell-out crowd of 25,000 at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium. Bangladesh, playing their first match in the Super-10s after qualifying along with the Netherlands from the first round, faltered against pace and spin in the one-sided contest. Left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie claimed two wickets off successive balls, including the vital one of Shakib Al Hasan, to reduce Bangladesh to 16-3 by the fourth over. Badree, who had begun the slide by removing opener Tamim Iqbal for five, sliced through the middle order with three wickets in his final over, the 11 of the innings. Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored with 22 and tailender Mashrafe Mortaza made 19, but six batsmen failed to enter double figures in a poor batting display by the home team. Smith dominated an opening stand of 97 by slamming 10 boundaries and three sixes, outscoring the unusually dour Gayle, whose contribution in the partnership was 19. Smith reached his half-century off 33 balls in the 10th over with a fourth consecutive boundary off spinner Sohag Gazi. The West Indies lost two wickets for one run as Smith top-edged a sweep off Mohammad Mahmudullah, and new batsman Lendl Simmons was stumped off a wide from Shakib. Gayle opened out after Smith's dismissal and hit two sixes and three fours before holing out in the deep off Ziaur Rahman in the 19th over. The West Indies plundered 44 runs from the 17th to the 19th overs to move to 167-3, before losing four wickets in the final over bowled by seamer Al Amin Hossain. India, Pakistan and Australia are the other teams in the group, from which two will advance to the semi-finals. Source: AFP