When the team bus was pelted with stones
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KARACHI: Capture the scenes during the 2011 World Cup shortly after West Indies beat tournament’s co-hosts Bangladesh in front of partisan crowd at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
The day-night Group ‘B’ fixture was already over even before the stadium was filled up as the entire game lasted just 31.1 overs. Batting first after Shakib Al Hasan had won the toss, the Bangladesh batsmen lasted only 18.5 overs in which they were shot out for 58 with Junaid Siddique (25) and former skipper Mohammad Ashraful (11) the only batsmen to enter double figures.
The mayhem was caused by the pace of Kemar Roach (3-19) and West Indies captain Darren Sammy (3-21) and the left-arm spin of Sulieman Benn (4-18) before Chris Gayle hit the final nails on Bangladesh’s coffin with a 36-ball 37.
The real drama started far away from the ground when the bus carrying the West Indies contingent was pelted with stones just as it neared the team hotel. Fortunately no one was hurt but the players were certainly left in a state of shock.
Bangladesh and West Indies had previously contested in three World Cup games. Their first match at the Castle Avenue in Dublin during the 1999 competition was won by Brian Lara’s charges by seven wickets after man-of-the-match Courtney Walsh (4-25 in 10 overs) and fellow paceman Reon King (3-30) had dismissed Bangladesh for 182.
The next time these sides played was a 2003 World Cup fixture which was declared as ‘no-result’ after rains in the South African town of Benoni came down hard when Bangladesh had made 32-2 in 8.1 overs while chasing 245.
During the Super Eight clash at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown when West Indies hosted the 2007 tournament, Bangladesh suffered a 99-run drubbing after Ramnaresh Sarwan had scored an undefeated 91 in West Indies’ total of 230-5.
Head-to-head summary:
May 21, 1999 — Dublin, West Indies seven wickets
Feb 18, 2003 — Benoni, no result
April 19, 2007 — Bridgetown, West Indies won by 99 runs
March 4, 2011 — Dhaka, West Indies won by nine wickets
Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2019
