Tigresses bowl brilliantly to keep Windies Women to 140 as they search back-to-back WC wins

An eventful first innings comes to an end with a recovery from West Indies but Bangladesh should still consider themselves favourites.

Stafanie Taylor wanted to bat first; Nigar Sultana wanted Bangladesh to make first use of the surface after winning the toss. On a pitch devoid of live grass, Taylor hoped to give batters the freedom to tee off and post a tall score, a theory that was backed by the experts, who were surpised at Nigar's choice, given the sunny conditions at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. 

Jahanara Alam got the big wicket of Dottin in the powerplay and then the spinners took over. It was a disciplined and relentless effort by the spinners as they bowled a combined 34 overs for 76 runs and picked up 5 wickets. The fielding too was top notch as they held on to their catches and even had a couple of direct hits.

Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews got West Indies off to a steady start, despite not getting the loose deliveries they would have liked. Jahanara Alam then struck but getting Dottin to cut at a one that didn't have enough width, only to be caught behind. Caution seemed to be West Indies' second line of defence as they slowed down once spinners came on.

What then followed was something they wouldn't have foreseen. Matthews mistimed a half-tracker from Nahida to midwicket and Taylor was bowled behind her legs in the left-arm spinner's next over. Salma then got Rashada Williams, who had come in for Kycia Knight, caught at covers to have West Indies at 4 for 48 in the 16th over.

There were multiple blocks of ten overs where no boundary was scored. The aggressive field-settings denied the batters singles. Wickets came about due to the build-up of pressure as well as the odd run-outs. The energy on the field was terrific. There were misfields and the odd drop catches but Bangladesh were moving on.

Shemaine Campbelle and Chedean Nation only asserted the West Indies' mindset when they played out close to 13 overs together for just 12 runs. It concluded with Nation horribly misjudging a run to be short of the direct hit at the striker's end.

Even though Campbelle struggled for the large part of her innings, she hung on and helped West Indies cross the 100-run mark. She first found an ally for the eighth wicket in Afy Fletcher - in for Shakera Selman, who scored 17, for a 32-run partnership in eight overs, and then added 36 with Karishma Ramharack for the ninth wicket. Campbelle made her second half-century in the tournament and helped West Indies get to a total their bowlers can play with.