Windies to rescue reputation

BRIDGETOWN – Battered and bruised West Indies take on Bangladesh in their penultimate World Cup match today hoping to rescue their tarnished reputation.

Brian Lara’s men saw their slender chances of further progress in the tournament disappear when South Africa demolished England by nine wickets on Tuesday to grab the last place in the semi-final line-up. Defending champions Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka had already confirmed their places in the last four.A win today would at least help the West Indies, winners of the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, avoid last place in the Super Eights table and safeguard their unbeaten record against Bangladesh.Team manager Clive Lloyd, who led West Indies to their only two Cup titles, said Bangladesh will not be taken for granted.”They are a formidable side and have done well in this World Cup and they have beaten quite a few good sides in Tests so they are on their way up,” said Lloyd.Bangladesh have had problems since upsetting former champions India in the preliminary round.They downed South Africa in the Super Eights but that remained their only win in the second stage and they have been dogged by inconsistency.”We don’t take any team lightly, it’s just that we haven’t played quite as well as we could, our results have shown that,” said Lloyd, who has been criticised for being too soft as part of the management team.West Indies, winners of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 and runners-up in the same event last year, won all their three preliminary round matches to raise hopes of a successful campaign.But the curse of the hosts (no home side has ever won the World Cup) came back to haunt them in the Super Eights where they lost to Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa.They are now left with England, who they play here on Saturday, Ireland and Bangladesh in the bottom half.Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar termed the situation as “disappointing.”Bashar said it was combination of poor batting and fielding which let them down in the Ireland match.Left-arm paceman Syed Rasel, who missed the Ireland match due to a sprained ankle suffered minutes before the toss, will return to face the West Indies, while batsman Mohammad Ashraful was also cleared to play after hurting his middle finger on the left hand.Nampa-AFPDefending champions Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka had already confirmed their places in the last four.A win today would at least help the West Indies, winners of the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, avoid last place in the Super Eights table and safeguard their unbeaten record against Bangladesh.Team manager Clive Lloyd, who led West Indies to their only two Cup titles, said Bangladesh will not be taken for granted.”They are a formidable side and have done well in this World Cup and they have beaten quite a few good sides in Tests so they are on their way up,” said Lloyd.Bangladesh have had problems since upsetting former champions India in the preliminary round.They downed South Africa in the Super Eights but that remained their only win in the second stage and they have been dogged by inconsistency.”We don’t take any team lightly, it’s just that we haven’t played quite as well as we could, our results have shown that,” said Lloyd, who has been criticised for being too soft as part of the management team.West Indies, winners of the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004 and runners-up in the same event last year, won all their three preliminary round matches to raise hopes of a successful campaign.But the curse of the hosts (no home side has ever won the World Cup) came back to haunt them in the Super Eights where they lost to Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa.They are now left with England, who they play here on Saturday, Ireland and Bangladesh in the bottom half.Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar termed the situation as “disappointing.”Bashar said it was combination of poor batting and fielding which let them down in the Ireland match.Left-arm paceman Syed Rasel, who missed the Ireland match due to a sprained ankle suffered minutes before the toss, will return to face the West Indies, while batsman Mohammad Ashraful was also cleared to play after hurting his middle finger on the left hand.Nampa-AFP