Opener Evin Lewis blazed 89 off just 36 balls to set up West Indies‘ 50-run victory over Bangladesh and take the T20 series 2-1 in Mirpur.
The 26-year-old smashed eight sixes and six fours as the tourists raced to 122-2 off 9.1 overs but when he departed the run-rate subsided significantly with Nicolas Pooran (29) and Rovman Powell (19) the only players to make double figures after his dismissal.
Windies were bowled out in the final over for 190, well below what they would have expected at the halfway stage, but it still proved too much for Bangladesh.
Despite Liton Das, who was eventually out for 43 off 25 balls, accelerating the hosts to 65-1 in just the fifth over only 22 not out from number 10 Abu Hider added respectability to the score as they were dismissed for 140 in the 17th over.
Thomas has Das caught by Rutherford 👏
— Cricingif (@_cricingif) December 22, 2018
Umpire gives it a no-ball 😱
Brathwaite reviews and it is not a no-ball 😕
The umpires ask Das to leave 😵
Match referee intervenes and calls him back 😒
Drama continues and it's a free-hit 🏏
Sarkar hits free-hit for a SIX 😲#BANvWI pic.twitter.com/RE68N1rzWt
The innings was not without controversy with play held up for eight minutes when West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite unsuccessfully contested a no-ball call after Das was caught in the fourth over as the call to review was made only after the players had seen a replay of the legitimate delivery on the big screen.
Despite the no-ball controversy, Brathwaite was pleased with the team’s efforts after losing the Test and ODI series.
“Very happy with our batting,” Brathwaite said. “You don’t always get that sort of a start. We wanted to be aggressive. As a bowling unit, we were not happy how we bowled in the second T20. But we regrouped and it was pleasing to see how the boys performed.”
