Sarwan acts as the pacemaker

West Indies collected their first win of the Super Eights by beating Bangladesh by 99 runs, but despite the emphatic margin they had to labour during the first half of their innings against a disciplined Bangladesh attack. The opening bowlers - Mashrafe Mortaza and Syed Rasel - stuck to a tight length and gave the batsmen no room.

More than 85% of their deliveries were pitched on a good length and the West Indians struggled to gather momentum. They managed to accumulate only 27 for 2 in 15 overs, which was their lowest total after 15 overs in this World Cup. Only eight of those runs were scored in front of the wicket, an indication that the Bangladesh bowlers hardly pitched the ball too full or too short. By the end of the Powerplays, West Indies had reached 47 for 2.

West Indies took 125 balls to reach 50 and the sluggish run-rate was primarily due to the inability of Marlon Samuels and Chanderpaul to pierce the infield. At one stage Samuels was struggling with 5 off 34 balls before a few boundaries boosted his strike-rate and he finished on 31 off 66. During this period Chanderpaul also toiled, taking 40 deliveries to score 15. When Samuels fell at 55 for 3 in the 22nd over, West Indies' disastrous World Cup was in danger of getting worse.

Ramnaresh Sarwan's entry caused a significant change in the pace of the innings. Sarwan picked off the ones and twos regularly and his innings had an effect on Chanderpaul as well. West Indies moved from 50 to 100 in 72 balls as they added 81 for the fourth wicket in only 16.1 overs, a run-rate of more than five an over. Sarwan, who had begun cautiously with 9 off 22 balls, reached his 50 off only 57.

Chanderpaul's departure in the 38th over marked another spurt in the run-rate as Brian Lara came to the crease. Sarwan and Lara added 60 off 8.3 overs. Rasel, who had superb figures of 8-2-21-1, leaked 27 off his last two as Lara got stuck into him. Thanks to Sarwan, who finished with 91 off 90 deliveries, West Indies mowed 84 off the last ten overs to finish on 230 for 5. It was a remarkable improvement considering they had been 67 for 3 after 25 overs.