West Indies vanquished Bangladesh by three wickets in the semi-final of ICC U19 CWC 2016 today and booked their place in the final against India on February 14.

Shamar Springer kept his cool and took his team to victory with eight balls in the bag. His unbeaten knock of 62 from 88 balls with five fours and a six knocked the wind out of Bangladesh’s sails.

Springer was adjudged the player of the match.

West Indian skipper Hetmyer had earlier laid the foundation for the successful chase with his breezy innings. He smashed 60 at better than a run a ball to change the complexion of the match.

For Bangladesh, it was a day to forget in the field as several catches were dropped and silly fielding errors were committed during this vital game.

Saleh Ahmed Shawon was Bangladesh’s most successful bowler today. He took three wickets for 37 runs in 10 overs. Both Mehedi and Saifuddin took two wickets each.

Saifuddin struck in the 47th over when West Indies needed 10 runs from 23 balls to win. Frew tried to squeeze a full-ball to third man but only managed to get an edge to keeper. The West Indian player hung around to take his team close to victory.

Saleh Ahmed Shawon of Bangladesh struck twice in the 38th over to stall West Indies as the visitors crept towards the target.

Bangladesh players broke into wild celebrations as Shawon got the better of Paul and bowled the West Indian batter for four.

West Indies seemed to lose the plot as they approached the finish-line. Goolie was trapped in front by Shawon with a flat delivery on middle and leg. Umpire didn’t hesitate as it looked quite plumb!

Saifuddin gave Bangladesh a timely wicket, that too of the West Indies captain Hetmyer in the 28th over against the run of play.

Shimron literally threw away his wicket after a great start, he tried to slog across the line, the slower ball deceived him and he was caught by Saif. He scored 60 runs from 59 balls with seven fours and a six, but more importantly kept the Bangladeshi bowlers at bay.

When it seemed like West Indies were running away with the match, Bangladesh’s Shawon struck in the 20th over to the relief of his teammates.

The 3rd wicket partnership between Cary and Shimron produced 62 runs in 12.5 overs, and didn’t allow the Bangladesh bowlers to check the run-rate at any stage.

Carty played second fiddle to captain Shimron, scored 22 from 43 with two fours.

West Indies skipper Shimron Hetmyer was batting beautifully in the middle, and had reached his fifty off only 47 balls. He dispatched the loose deliveries and was busy taking the ones and twos to keep the scoreboard moving.

Bangladesh came back in the match when their skipper got his second wicket of the game in the seventh over.

Mehedi deceived Pope in flight as the batter went for a heave, missed the ball and the off-stump was pegged back. Pope was the main reason why West Indies started so positively. He hammered 38 runs from 25 balls with five fours and two sixes to his name.

Bangladesh players were visibly jubilant after they saw the back of Pope.

Bangladesh struck their first blow in the fifth over when Tigers captain Mehedi Hasan stopped the opening partnership that gave West Indies a flying start.

The home crowd went berserk when the umpire ruled in the bowler’s favour. The flat delivery from Mehedi struck the batter right in front for 14 runs.

West Indies began their chase of 227 aggressively and scored 44 runs in five overs for the loss of a wicket. Gidron Pope took the attack to the Bangladeshi bowlers and made full use of the wayward bowling early.

Earlier, West Indies kept Bangladesh down to 226 in the semi-final clash with an inspired performance in the field at Mirpur Stadium.

Bangladesh’s lower-middle order batted with responsibility to enable their side to reach a decent total, something which looked unlikely when they were reeling at 113 for 5.

Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Tigers skipper was the highest scorer for his side with 60 runs. He was well supported by Saifuddin who contributed with 36 handy runs.

For West Indies, Holder and Springer took two wickets each. Keemo Paul was most successful among his teammates, and picked up three wickets for 20 runs in three overs late in the game.

Bangladesh lost their last wicket in the last over when Rana was run out for a single. Springer claimed his second wicket in the 49 th over when he sent back Mosabbek for 14 with a superb yorker.

West Indies bowler Paul got his third wicket of the match when sent back Saeed Sarkar with a perfect yorker that struck the base of middle stump.

Bangladesh lost their eighth wicket in the 48th over, and the cluster of wickets in the end pegged back the hosts.

Keemo Paul came back in the 46th over and took two wickets in two balls to stall Bangladesh’s progress late in the innings.

Mohammad Saifuddin was bowled when he went for a wild swing at the bowl, and Paul was celebrating with his teammates.

Saifuddin played a good hand, and supported Mehedi in their crucial partnership. He scored 36 runs from 55 balls with three hits to the fence.

Mehedi Hasan was dismissed after a splendid knock of 60 runs. He faced 74 balls and struck seven boundaries during his stay at the crease.

The Bangladeshi batter was trying to up the tempo, slogged at short of length ball and ended up caught at mid-off. Mehedi came to the rescue of his team when his side was really struggling.

Mehedi Hasan gave Bangladesh hope of a challenging total after he raised his bat to acknowledge the crowd’s applause…he had reached his fifty.

Bangladesh batsman’s third fifty of the World Cup came in 63 balls, and he showed great application at the crease to deny the West Indies bowlers looking desperately for a breakthrough.

Bangladesh found some solace, after the fifty-run stand for the sixth wicket halted the slide and kept the West Indies bowlers at bay.

Mehedi and Saifuddin brought up their fifty-partnership in 12.5 overs.

Bangladesh found the going get tougher with West Indies bowlers operating with a spring in their steps. Holder gave his side a timely breakthrough in the 28th over and reasons to feel buoyed about the game.

Zakir Hasan swung across the line, and the full ball from Holder uprooted his off-stump to leave Bangladesh in dire straits. He scored 24 from 44 balls with two hits to the fence.

With half the side gone, Bangladesh looked down the barrel before the last twenty overs of their innings.

West Indies struck at the worst time for Bangladesh in the 22nd over, when their fourth wicket partnership steadied the early jitters by some sensible batting.

Springer fooled Joyraz Sheik with a slower off-cutter that was guided on to the stumps by the set batsman. Joyraz allowed the scoreboard to keep moving when wickets fell around him, and scored 35 useful runs from 54 balls.

West Indies kept their noses in front by sending back Bangladesh’s highest scorer in their innings so far.

Bangladesh’s innings suffered a massive blow in the 13th over when their leading run-scorer in the tournament Nazmul Hossain Shanto was dismissed cheaply.

Shanto flicked the ball full on off and middle, but got a leading edge that was caught by West Indies captain Hetmeyer at cover. The batsman managed 11 from 24 balls, and was quite tense at the crease.

The 31-run third wicket partnership between Shanto and Joyraz weathered the early storm to an extent, but West Indies struck at the right moment to take control of the game.

West Indies quickies Joseph rocked Bangladesh in the seventh over, and the short-pitch strategy continued to pay off for the visitors. Another one bites the dust….

Saif Hasan became the second Bangladeshi wicket to fall when he was hustled by a bouncer from Joseph that struck the upper half of the bat and lobbed to Goolie at square leg. Tigers opener managed 10 runs from 16 balls.

West Indies smell blood, and they are going for the kill.

Bangladesh lost their first wicket after Pinak Ghosh was softened up with some sharp bouncers by the West Indies new ball bowlers Joseph and Holder.

Pinak got smashed on the helmet when Joseph’s short bouncer on middle struck the batter flush when he tried to pull the delivery. When presented with a short, wide freebie from Holder in the second over, the batsman sliced it straight down the throat of third man for a 10-ball duck.

The Bangladeshi opening batters were intimidated by the short-pitch strategy of the West Indian pacers, but the bowlers were too ill-disciplined, and conceded wides and no-balls too often for their liking.

A foggy morning at Mirpur, and West Indies may not be too disappointed by losing the toss, and being invited to exploit the conditions with the hard, new ball.

Bangladesh captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz won the toss, and decided to bat first and put up a good total on the board against West Indies in the ICC U19 CWC 2016 at Mirpur stadium.

Many consider India as the toughest test for the home side, but Miraz and his coach Mizanur know very well that they will only face that challenge if they overcome today's hurdle.

Miraz said that Bangladesh's batting and spin bowling were their strengths and most importantly they had the confidence and ability to come back from any match situation.

Coach Mizanur Rahman had the same sentiment and added: "The boys are in good rhythm. We are just waiting for tomorrow's game. We are taking it like any other match, not a semifinal. We are only thinking about putting our plan into action."

West Indies coach Graeme West, too, was not short of confidence ahead of the big game. He has said that West Indies were encouraged by how the Sri Lankan seamers zipped the ball around to test India's top order in the first semi-final on Tuesday.

"We watched the game yesterday and we're encouraged to see the ball get through," West said. "The seamers both sides were effective in the first 10 overs. Anyone that would have watched the Pakistan game, will see where one of our strengths lies with the new ball attack. And we got to look to that to really make early inroads into the Bangladesh batting."

Bangladesh Under-19s

Pinak Ghosh, Saif Hassan, Joyraz Sheik, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mehedi Hasan Miraz (Captain), Zakir Hasan (Wicketkeeper), Mohammad Saifuddin, Saeed Sarkar, Mosabbek Hossain, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Saleh Ahmed Shawon, Jaker Ali, Ariful Islam, Shafiul Hayet, Abdul Halim

West Indies Under-19s

GD Pope, TA Imlach (Wicketkeeper), SO Hetmyer (Captain), KU Carty, SK Springer, JU Goolie, KMA Paul, MO Frew, RD John, AS Joseph, CK Holder, OF Smith, EWJ Stewart, SP Crooks, KA Kallicharan

England U19 Captain Brad Taylor won the toss and elected to bat first on the batting friendly wicket at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium against West Indies U19 led by Simon Hetmyer. File Photo: STAR