WI chances get World Cup jolt

BENONI: Badly needing a fast scoring victory to boost their chances of qualifying for the second round of the Cricket World Cup, the West Indies suffered a big jolt yesterday when their match against lowly ranked Bangladesh was abandoned by rain.

West Indies, who scored 244 for nine in 50 overs under overcast conditions, were disappointed to see rain stop play with Bangladesh on 32 for two in 8.1 overs.

Umpires Russell Tiffin from Zimbabwe and Brian Jerling of South Africa called off play after waiting for two hours for the rain to stop. The teams were awarded two points each.

The persistent drizzle ruled out play, ruining West Indies' chances of securing four points from this match.

Two-time champions West Indies started the tournament with a thrilling three-run victory against host South Africa, but lost the momentum with a 20-run loss to New Zealand. A win over Bangladesh would have put them strongly back on course for a Super Six berth.

"It's very disappointing for us," Hooper said. "We wanted to take all four points but there's not much you can do about the weather.

"The key match is going to be against Sri Lanka (at Cape Town Feb. 28). We want to win that match so this puts a little more pressure on us and maybe that's a good thing.

"We still wanted to be able to score 275 plus. Hopefully we can better against Canada and then the big one against Sri Lanka," the West Indies captain said. Hooper said that the batting of Ricardo Powell, who hit four sixes in his 50 off 31 balls, was a positive point from the performance.

"He's an awesome player when he gets going," he said. "But I'm getting a little bit worried about the two openers. It's important that we get some starts."

The washed out match opened up the pool with Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies staying in the race for the three places in the next round. It also revived South Africa's hopes despite having lost two of their three matches.

Bangladesh picked up their first two points in three matches after two heavy defeats against minnows Canada and former champions Sri Lanka.

The 10th and latest entrant into the Test-playing family three years ago, Bangladesh have lost 28 matches since they pulled off a stunning upset against Pakistan during their first World Cup in 1999.

After yesterday's match, they have won just three out of 64 One-Day Internationals, with two matches washed out. (AP)

Benoni Scoreboard

BANGLADESH VS WEST INDIES
W Hinds c Al Shahriar b Mahmud 18
C Gayle c Sanwar b Islam 0
B Lara c Al Shahriar b Haque 46
S Chanderpaul LBW b Haque 29
C Hooper c and b Kapali 45
R Sarwan c and b Mahmud 13
R Powell c Sanwar b Islam 50
R Jacobs not out 6
V Drakes run out 0
M Dillon c Ashraful b Islam 10
C Collymore not out 0
EXTRAS (LB1, LB6, NB7, W13) 27
TOTAL (For 9 wkts -- 50 overs) 244
Fall of wickets: 19, 40, 108, 130, 158, 217, 231, 231, 242.
BOWLING: Manjurul Islam 10-0-62-3 (W6), Talha Jubair 8-0-46-0 (NB6, W6), Khaled Mahmud 10-1-48-2 (NB1), Ehsanul Haque 10-4-34-2, (W1), Mohammed Rafique 10-4-44-0, Alok Kapali 2-1-3-1.
Bangladesh Inns
Al Shahriar c Gayle b Drakes 5
E Haque b Dillon 12
M Ashraful not out 8
S Hossain not out 2
EXTRAS (LB2, W3) 5
TOTAL (For 2 wkts -- 8.1 overs) 32
Fall of wickets: 19, 19.
Did not bat: Khaled Mashud, Tushar Imran, Alok Kapali, Khaled Madmud, Mohammad Rafique, Talha Jubair, Manjurul Islam.
BOWLING: Mervyn Dillon 4.1-0-13-1 (W3), Vasbert Drakes 4-1-17-1.
RESULT: Match abandoned after disruption by rain.