WI Women vs Bangladesh Women 2nd ODI St Lucia: Shamilia Connell Spell Sets Tone

The second ODI at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia turned in the first hour. Shamilia Connell's opening spell of four for 19 in the powerplay shaped the match in a way the chasing side never recovered from, and a Murshida Khatun-led recovery from 28 for four came close but, in the end, fell short. West Indies Women levelled the three-match series after losing the opener in Antigua, and the contest now goes to a decider in Barbados.

Shamilia Connell's powerplay

The four wickets Connell took were spread across her first five overs. The first two came in her opening over — both right-handers nicking length balls outside off stump as the new ball moved away under the morning cloud cover. The third was an inswinger that pinned the No. 4 in front in her third over. The fourth, the wicket of the senior middle-order batter, came from a back-of-a-length ball that climbed and took a glove on the way through to the keeper.

Connell's pace touched the high 70s mph throughout the spell — quick by women's ODI new-ball standards — and her ability to hold a fifth-stump line while threatening the inswinger forced the Bangladesh top order onto the front foot earlier than they wanted. The line she has bowled across the West Indies' spring tour has been the most controlled of her career.

Murshida Khatun's 58 and how it nearly worked

From 28 for four, the chase relied on Murshida Khatun and the captain Nigar Sultana to build a partnership that could take the asking rate down to a number the lower order could finish. They got close. Murshida played the front-foot drive against the spinner cleanly through extra cover and used the depth of the crease against the seam-up bowlers in their second spell. Her 58 from 81 balls is the kind of innings that, in a different game shape, wins ODIs for Bangladesh.

The shot that ended her innings — a slog-sweep off the off-spinner that picked out long-on — was forced by the situation, not by a mistake of footwork. With the rate climbing, Bangladesh needed someone in the lower middle order to absorb four overs of the leg-spinner from the other end. When Murshida fell with the chase still requiring more than seven an over, the game effectively ended.

The West Indies middle order set the par

Before Connell's spell, the West Indies first innings was put together by a partnership between Hayley Matthews and the No. 4. Matthews dominated the strike, scoring 71 of her 95 in boundary runs, and the team total of 218 was 20-25 runs above the chase-par at St Lucia in May based on the last three women's ODIs played here.

That par read is the number that the West Indies bowlers — Connell most of all — would have been told to play for in the dressing room. Once they had Bangladesh four down inside ten overs, the West Indies attack only had to bowl out their overs to take the game home.

Spin from both ends in the middle overs

The middle overs of the chase were defined by the West Indies' spin pair. Karishma Ramharack from one end and Afy Fletcher from the other gave away under four an over for the bulk of the second powerplay, and although they did not take wickets, they dried up the runs. Bangladesh needed Murshida and Sultana to take a calculated risk against one of them; the partnership instead chose to play through, and the rate-pressure did the bowlers' work for them.

The lesson here is one Bangladesh's analyst will keep coming back to. Against the West Indies' spin pair, the chasing side has to commit to a 30-over plan with a clear release option. Without it, the spinners control the middle overs and the seamers come back fresh.

What it means for the decider

The series is now level at one each going into Barbados. Bangladesh have to find a way to negotiate the West Indies new-ball pair without losing two in the first six overs, and that is going to come down to the openers. The senior opener has been quiet across both games and is the change Bangladesh might make. For the West Indies, the question is whether Connell can repeat this kind of spell on a Barbados pitch that is traditionally harder for the seamers to swing the new ball on.

What to watch

The Connell-Khatun match-up is the one to track in the decider. If Bangladesh can get past the first ten overs without losing more than one wicket, the chase math changes completely. If Connell strikes twice in her opening spell again, the West Indies will close out the series at home.

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