Bangladesh off-spinner Mehedy Hasan picked up career best four wicket haul against Windies in the series deciding third ODI that showcased his talent in the 50-over format at Sylhet on Friday.
Mehedy had often been regarded as a Test match prospect largely due to his heroics in the longer version cricket but the way he responded in the third game of the ongoing series only indicated he is maturing with time.
Mehidy's four for 29 restricted West Indies to only 198 for 9 in the deciding third ODI against Bangladesh as he engineered a mid-innings batting collapse from which the visitors never recovered. Mehidy took two of the three wickets that fell in the space of 22 balls as West Indies slipped from 96 for 2 in the 23rd over to 99 for 5 in the 26th.
It was of little surprise that Bangladesh opted to bowl on a dry wicket. Mehidy bowled eight overs on the trot, and sent back Chandrapaul Hemraj and Darren Bravo in his prolonged spell, giving little away as Windies made a slow start.
Hope, however, once again, led Windies' hope of posting a good total for almost the entire innings, but some reckless shots from the other end, kept the partnerships at bay, with Hope constantly in pursuit of building partnerships from his end.
What the failure of the other batsmen also did was up the significance of his innings that spanned 131 balls with another class act, continuing from where he left off in the second ODI. After he was reintroduced Mehidy's took two of the three wickets, the other one being removed by Saifuddin after he dismissed Marlon Samuels, and it prompted a mini collapse as West Indies slipped from 96 for 2 in the 23rd over to 99 for 5 in the 26th.
Mehidy removed his bunny Shimron Hetmyer, whom he has now dismissed six times in seven innings during this tour. Hetmyer ended the ODI series with 20 runs from three knocks, a stark contrast from his sparkling batting in the two Tests.
Rovman Powell's wretched tour of subcontinent ended when Mehidy had him caught behind. Powell made just 16 runs in three innings here, adding to his 61 runs in the five ODIs in India earlier. Bangladesh spin coach Sunil Joshi remained optimistic with Mehedy's promise and believe his big palm gives him an edge over others in the 50-over format as well.
''We've seen Miraz playing in all three formats. You've got to credit him because he is such a great bowler,'' said Joshi. ''Look at Mehidy's palm... his fingers are so big. That's a great advantage; God's gift I would say. Not many spinners in the world these days have long fingers,'' said Joshi.
Mehidy is an Asian product - a Bangladesh product. Because of his fingers and hand, he generates over-spin. In Test cricket, you need both side-spin and over-spin. From that point of view, Mehidy is a difficult bowler to deal with.
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