Mahedi 4-for sees Bangladesh beat Windies by 7 runs in first T20

Bangladesh have edged past the West Indies to a 7-run win in the first T20 International in Kingstown.

Mahedi Hasan led the line, grabbing a ruthless 4-13 with the ball and an unbeaten 26* with the bat on Monday in Kingstown, reports bdnews24.com.

The West Indies won the toss and elected to field first. Once again, the Bangladesh top order proved brittle.

While Soumya Sarkar (43 off 32 balls) stood firm at one end, Tanzid Hasan (6), captain Litton Das (0) and Afif Hossain (8) all fell cheaply.

But the middle order of Jaker Ali (27), Mahedi, and Shamim Hossain (27) steadied the innings to take the Tigers to a meagre 147-6 at the end of 20 overs.

If the batting looked sloppy, the Tigers made up for it in the field. Taskin Ahmed (2-28) got the ball rolling by dismissing opener Brandon King early. Then Mahedi caught fire, wiping out the Windies top order by claiming the wickets of Nicholas Pooran, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, and Andre Fletcher.

Captain Rovman Powell attempted to rally his side by thumping 60 runs off 35 balls, but was eventually dismissed by pacer Hasan Mahmud (2-18).

Mahmud then closed out the innings by bowling Alzarri Joseph, taking the Tigers to a thrilling win.