Powell's brilliant performance not enough as Mahedi spins Bangladesh to narrow victory over West Indies in 1st T20I

The West Indies narrowly escaped a tense battle, thanks to captain Rovman Powell's explosive performance. However, it was clear that the hosts were heavily impacted by the early onslaught from Mahedi Hasan during the powerplay.

While chasing a modest 148-run total, the Caribbean side faced problems as Mahedi made early inroads through their batting lineup.

The West Indies had already lost Brandon King before Mahedi was introduced to bowl in the powerplay. In his second delivery of the match, Mahedi caught the big fish, Nicholas Pooran. He invited him to step out of the crease to have a go at him. Pooran shimmered down the crease, went for a swing and missed the ball, which held a straight trajectory. The explosive batter was well short of the crease as Litton gathered the ball and dislodged the bails in a jiffy.

West Indies found reprieve in the next over with Johnson Charles going berserk against Tanzim Hasan Sakib. He tonked two sixes and followed it up with a crisp four to accumulate 25 runs from the over.

But the impending end from Mahedi ended Charles' deal with the boundaries. The opener took the aerial route, but the desired elevation was something that was missed dearly. The ball landed in Hasan Mahmud's hands at mid-off.

With the West Indies tottering at run-a-ball 36 and three wickets down after the first six overs, Mahedi dealt a massive blow to make their chase a lost cause.

He delivered a match-defining over to remove Andre Fletcher for a four-ball duck and then Roston Chase for 7. With the West Indies looking down and out at 39/5, Powell knew his side needed something special from him.

Powell kept the hopes alive with Romario Shepherd playing the second fiddle to his skipper. The duo paced their knocks according to the situation and brought down the equation to 20 needed in 18 balls.

With victory once again in sight, Bangladesh pacers held their nerves to see off the game. Taskin Ahmed removed Shepherd , but Powell's threat continued to loom in the atmosphere.

In the final over, Hasan Mahmud had 10 runs to defend while facing Powell. Mahmud bowled it wide, and Powell went for a flashy drive. He only found an outside edge, which was taken by the wicketkeeper. Mahmud castled Alzarri Joseph to seal a 7-run victory for Bangladesh.

Earlier in the match, after being put to bat by the hosts, Bangladesh needed moments of individual brilliance to find their way to 147/6. Soumya Sarkar played a blistering knock of 43, while Jaker Ali , Mahedi and Shamim Hossain made invaluable contributions towards the end, which took the visitors to a fighting total.

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