Bangladesh send West Indies packing

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An enthralling display of power hitting by Mohammad Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed helped Bangladesh stroll to a six-wicket win against West Indies in Johannesburg. After eliminating India from the first round of the World Cup, Bangladesh inflicted the same on West Indies today as the target of 164 turned out to be a walk in the park for a team armed with batsmen ideally suited for this format of the game, reports Cricinfo.
It was a sweet revenge for Ashraful, who after conceding over 50 runs with his legspinners, bludgeoned the West Indies bowlers to record the fastest fifty in Twenty20 internationals, off just 20 balls. The early wickets of Tamim Iqbal and Nazimuddin - both falling to miscued pulls - did absolutely nothing to deter Aftab and Ashraful as the chase went into overdrive.
The most impressive aspect of the stand was that it was studded with genuine strokes and not ugly slogs or swipes. Aftab in particular used his bottom hand to good effect, picking deliveries from outside the off stump and swinging across the line to square leg. The fielding was mostly shoddy and there was hardly anything the West Indians could take heart from as boundary after boundary was leaked to all corners.