Shepherd grabs career-best before rain halts 1st T20I

1st T20 International

West Indies vs Bangladesh

Venue: Windsor Park, Dominica

Toss: West Indies won and bowled

Result: No Result

Scorecard: https://bit.ly/wivban1stt20i

ROSEAU, Dominica – Steady showers forced a premature end to the first T20 International between West Indies and Bangladesh at a refurbished Windsor Park on Saturday. A wet outfield delayed the start for over an hour and a half and reduced the match to 16 overs per side. After play was halted in the eighth over, the match was reduced to 14 overs each.

Bangladesh faced 13 overs when a rain interrupted play again with the score on 105-8. Shakib Al Hasan top scored with 29, and every West Indies bowler got a wicket, led by fast bowler Romario Shepherd with 3-21. It was career-best figures for the 27-year-old who bowled with good control as Bangladesh slipped from 56-2 to 77-7 in the 11th over. His first wicket was Liton Das who was outfoxed by a slower ball and spooned a simple catch to captain Nicholas Pooran at midwicket.

In Shepherd’s third and final over he took two more wickets – Mahmudullah brilliantly caught by the ever-alert Hayden Walsh Jr at backward point and then Mahedi Hasan, taken behind by keeper Devon Thomas. Walsh also played a crucial role with the ball as he took 2-24 to cause the middle-order slide. He first had Shakib taken by Thomas as he tried to go after a well-flight wrong-un, and then sent back Afif Hossain for a “duck” as the left-hander hoisted a catch into the safe hands of Brandon King.

The game was the first cricket international at Windsor Park since it was rebuilt after being severely damaged in 2017 by Hurricane Maria. Ahead of the match Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit joined the captains for the coin toss and declared the series officially open.

HOPE TO SEE THE SUN ALL DAY SUNDAY

Another large and colorful crowd is expected on Sunday for the second match at the same venue. This promises to be another action-packed day and fans can buy tickets via the new WINDIES TICKETS service presented by Mastercard, at www.tickets.windiestickets.com. First ball is 1:30pm (12:30pmJamaica Time) and fans can watch live on ESPN Caribbean and listen to live radio commentary on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel. The third and last T20I is scheduled for Thursday at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, Guyana.