Bangladesh's captain Mohammad Ashraful, hitting out during their Twenty20 World Championship match against West Indies at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg yesterday. Bangladesh won by six wickets. - AP

johannesburg, (reuters)

West Indies were knocked out of the Twenty20 World Cup yesterday when Bangladesh roared to victory by six wickets in their group match.

Bangladesh won the toss and limited West Indies to 164 for eight before captain Mohammad Ashraful's sparkling 61 off 27 balls ensured they reached the target with two overs to spare.

Ashraful's delightful innings included seven fours and three sixes as he tore into the West Indies bowling after neither opener, Tamim Iqbal (10) nor Mohammad Nazimuddin (1), made any impression.

Ashraful shared a third-wicket partnership of 109 off 64 balls with Aftab Ahmed, who batted through the innings to finish with 62 not out off 49 balls, with eight fours and a six.

West Indies were once again sluggish in the field and ill-disciplined in their bowling, having been trounced by eight wickets in the tournament's opening match against South Africa on Tuesday at the same venue.

Dwayne Smith's brutal hitting at the end of the innings lifted West Indies from a moderate score after he came to the crease with 19 deliveries left and his team on 131 for five. He quickly scored 29 off seven balls, hitting four sixes.

Devon Smith earlier scored a patient half-century as West Indies overcame a tough start. He and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (37) added 95 for the second wicket after the third-ball loss of Chris Gayle, but it took them 13.1 overs.

Superb rasel

Left-arm seamer Syed Rasel performed superbly with the new ball for Bangladesh, removing Gayle, who notched the first international Twenty20 century against South Africa on Tuesday, for a duck as he bowled his four overs for just 10 runs.

Spinners Abdur Razzak (two for 25) and Shakib ul-Hasan (four for 34) then caused a late clatter of wickets.

At Cape Town Kevin Pietersen's 79 off 37 balls helped England defeat Zimbabwe by 50 runs.

In Durban, India's start to the tournament was spoiled by rain as they were forced to accept a single point as rain washed out their encounter with Scotland.

England captain Paul Colling-wood added 37 runs as his team's 188-9 proved too much for Zimbabwe to overcome.

England decided to bat first at the Newlands Stadium and Zimbabwe's bowlers started well again, as they did in their surprise defeat of Australia on Wednesday. Darren Maddy and Luke Wright both fell victim to Elton Chigumbura, leaving England at 20-2 in the third over.

But Pietersen and Collingwood shared a 100-run stand in 54 balls. Pietersen dominated the partnership, at one time sweeping Keith Dabengwa for a six and two fours off successive balls.

He was eventually caught on the boundary having hit seven fours and four sixes.

Vusi Sibanda and Brendan Taylor gave Zimbabwe a good start, with an opening partnership of 74. But after Dimitri Mascarenhas got rid of Sibanda for 29, the Zimbabwe chase stalled.

Mascarenhas finished with 3-18 off his four overs, while Chris Schofield took 2-14 in his four overs, as Zimbabwe fell 50 runs short on 138-7.