Agency, Basseterre :
Denesh Ramdin hit a memorable 169 off 121 balls and Darren Bravo struck 124 as the West Indies powered to a 3-0 series sweep of Bangladesh with a 91-run win in the third and final one-day international on Monday.
Wicket-keeper Ramdin slammed eight fours and 11 sixes at Warner Park and shared a record-breaking third-wicket stand of 258 with left-hander Bravo as the West Indies finished with 338-7 off 50 overs. Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim (72) and Tamim Iqbal (55) led the reply, but the tourists were never realistically in with a chance and ended could only reach 247-8.
Seam bowler Ravi Rampaul was impressive for the Caribbean side, taking 4 for 29 from 10 overs. Al-Amin Hossain took 4 for 59 for the visitors. Bravo and Ramdin dominated the first innings after coming together with the hosts in trouble at 12 for 2 in the fifth over.
Bangladesh was on top when Mashrafe Mortaza dismissed Lendl Simmons (6) and Al-Amin removed the dangerous Chris Gayle (6), but the visitors rued a missed stumping by Mushfiqur Rahim off Abdur Razzak’s left-arm spin when Bravo was on 10.
The pair of Trinidadians went on to gradually rebuild the West Indies innings, before opening up and smashing Bangladesh to all parts of the small ground. The 29-year-old Ramdin was the first to reach his century, off 90 deliveries. It was the right-hander’s second one-day century.
The West Indies, after sitting on 88 for 2 after 21 overs, powered 250 runs from the last 29 overs.
Bravo, who earlier passed 2,000 ODI runs, brought up his second one-day100 a few overs later off 112 balls. The 25-year-old hit seven fours and eight sixes in his career-best.
Their stand broke a host of records, eventually being the best ever partnership for the West Indies in one-day internationals.
The Bangladesh chase stuttered to 2-2 in the second over when Jason Holder and Rampaul removed Anamul Haque and Imrul Kayes cheaply.
Left-hander Tamim and skipper Mushfiqur shared a third-wicket stand of 99 to lift Bangladesh’s flickering hopes, but Sunil Narine bowled Tamim and Rampaul returned to claim Mushfiqur as the chase petered out.
The teams meet in a one-off Twenty20 international at the same venue on Wednesday.
