The West Indians in Bangladesh, 1999-2000

As part of the mission to broaden Bangladesh's international experience while they campaigned for Test status, the West Indians visited Dhaka briefly in October before going on to the Coca-Cola Champions' Trophy in Sharjah. Bangladesh had already hosted one-day tournaments and A-team tours, as well as playing first-class cricket against regional sides in New Zealand. This visit was a further step in their development, because they played a first-class match against a Test nation and performed encouragingly. They restricted the West Indians to a 20-run lead on first innings, but rain prevented the match reaching a conclusion. The short limited-overs series for the Biman Millennium Cup was much more one-sided, with West Indies taking full advantage of the toss to cruise home in both matches; captain Brian Lara scored the second-fastest hundred in one-day internationals in the second game.

Large crowds proved once again that Bangladesh compared favourably with any Test country when it came to an enthusiastic fan base. The Bangabandhu Stadium was overflowing for the one-day games, which attracted more than 40,000 each, though only a tenth of that number turned out for the first-class match.

Match reports for

1st ODI: Bangladesh v West Indies at Dhaka, Oct 8, 1999
Report | Scorecard

2nd ODI: Bangladesh v West Indies at Dhaka, Oct 9, 1999
Report | Scorecard