Having been dispatched for a 3-0 series sweep in the preceding ODI series, Bangladesh bowlers produced a spectacular effort against the West Indies to force a top-order collapse in the first T20I in St. Vincent yesterday, paving the way for a seven-run win.

Off-spinner Sheikh Mahedi Hasan, a peripheral character in the Tigers T20I outfit, turned up as the star of the show with four wickets -- an effort that will energise the side for the rest of the series.

Soumya Sarkar's 43 at the top, followed by Mahedi and Shamim Hossain's 26 and 27, helped the visitors to a middling 147 for six. Skipper Liton Das had identified that it was not going to be easy for the batters on that surface, and it proved to be the case.

Taskin Ahmed started the rout, picking up Brandon King cheaply with a late outswinger that produced a leading edge, which was taken at mid-off. After that, it became the Mahedi show.

The 30-year-old varied his lengths and adapted quickly in the Powerplay. Seeing Nicholas Pooran come down the wicket, the right-armer dragged his length back. The straighter one beat the batter in flight and trajectory, leading to a simple stumping as Windies were two for two.

Windies saw wind back in their sails with 25 taken off a Tanzim Sakib over. Johnson Charles looked to take the game away, but when he moved away from his stumps, Mahedi once again adjusted, making sure Charles did not get on top of the delivery, resulting in a simple catch.

After the Powerplay, Mahedi struck a double blow in an over to see the hosts slump to five for 38. First, he got Andre Fletcher out caught behind with one that did not turn in the seventh over, and later in the same over, Roston Chase was in a knot trying a reverse sweep that took the glove, which Liton gathered without fail.

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Having shone in his early forays with the old ball during the death overs in the franchise Bangladesh Premier League, Mahedi's ability to bowl with the new ball in the Powerplay was well utilised by Liton.

Mahedi put it all down to plans. "In these kinds of wickets, you can target 180-200 if you have wickets in hand. Obviously, there is help on the surface for spinners and pacers. But it's all about how you plan to bowl on what kind of surfaces and adapt to any situation," he said about his readiness to change lengths to fit the surface

"My plan was not to allow them to play easy shots or play them comfortably since they are very strong. So I had to plan really well, and I'm fortunate that it worked," he added.

However, after Rovman Powell's 67-run stand off 33 deliveries with Romario Shepherd, the game was slipping. Hasan Mahmud, however, turned up with a hard-to-beat last over to seize the win, giving away just two runs defending 10 and taking two wickets, including the all-important one of Powell.

Mahedi said he believed Hasan would be able to do it. "I still remember during an Ireland series, Hasan won the game for us in the death over, and I had the feeling that Hasan could do it," Mahedi told reporters after the game, having seen his own plans put a spell on the Caribbeans earlier.

Chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain informed that "country's best off-spinner" Mehedi Hasan Miraz suffered a groin injury, which perhaps had enabled his namesake Mahedi to showcase his craft in a time when his team were desperate for a turnaround.