Two late wickets help Bangladesh share honours
- West Indies vs Bangladesh – Second Test – Mirpur
By Dion Michael
Two wickets late in the day helped Bangladesh to share the honours on the opening day of the second test againt the West Indies at Mirpur on Saturday.
The tourists had held the upper hand throughout the day after negotiating the morning session without losing a wicket and then consolidating to reach tea on a commanding
160 for two. They finally closed the day on 253 for 5 losing key batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and nightwatchman Kemar Roach in the last eight overs.
West Indies had the ideal start thanks to a solid opening stand of exactly 100 between Kraigg Braithwaite (50) and debutant Kieran Powell (72). Kirk Edwards at number three struck an impressive 71 not out and anchored the rest of the innings.Braithwaite was the first to fall slicing Rubel Hossain to Imrul Kayes in the gully shortly after completing his maiden test fifty. On the stroke of tea Powell was bowled by debutant Suhrawadi Shuvo – a late replacement for the injured Elias Sunny.
Darren Bravo’s was the third wicket to fall early in the final session of the day, out for 12 when trapped lbw by Nasir Hossain, but they were still in a strong position as they pushed the score beyond 200.Things changed dramatically when the hosts claimed the prized scalp of Chanderpaul (18) who gloved Nasir Hossain’s to wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim leaving his side on 226 for four.
Despite there being more than eight overs left in the day, in a bizarre move the West Indies chose to hold back skipper Marlon Samuels and send in Roach as a nightwatchman and it cost them. Roach made six runs off 13 balls before he was cleaned up by Shakib Al Hasan.At 232 for five – it seemed that the tourists had squandered their advantage but Samuels strolled out and batted in a manner which made a mockery of the decision to use a nightwatchman.
Samuels hit four boundaries in an unbeaten 16 and added a crucial 21 runs with Edwards to push his side’s total past the 250 mark.
