Da Silva, Joseph take WI to 409; Bangladesh 105-4
SUMMARY: Bangladesh 105-4 (Rahim 27*, Mithun 6*, Gabriel 2-31) trail West Indies 409 all out (Da Silva 92, Bonner 90, Joseph 82, Jayed 4-75) by 304 runs
After having lost the ODI series 3-0, and chased much of the first Test before chasing down 395 on the final day in Chattogram, Kraigg Brathwaite and his West Indies team hold all the aces after the second day of the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka.
It was made possible largely due to a new-ball burst by Shannon Gabriel, backed up by some imaginative captaincy from Brathwaite, after career-best knocks of 92 by Joshua Da Silva and 90 from Nkrumah Bonner, aided by an enterprising 82 by Alzarri Joseph helped the visitors stretch their overnight 223-5 to 409.
For Bangladesh, Abu Jayed picked up his third four-wicket haul to finish with 4-75, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz stayed tantalisingly poised on 99 Test wickets, after picking up the wicket of Bonner.
At close of play, Mushfiqur Rahim had batted fluently to post 27, while Mohammed Mithun looked a bit more nervy in making six off 61 balls.
West Indies walked out after tea with the weight of runs on the scoreboard, and Gabriel helped drive the advantage further by dismissing Soumya Sarkar, caught chipping a straight ball delivered from round the wicket to Kyle Mayers at short mid-wicket for a fourth-ball duck in the first over.
Off Gabriel’s next over, Najmul Hossain Shanto, who had earlier taken a firm blow on his right shoulder off the bat of Bonner while fielding at forward short leg, drove an overpitched delivery for four.
Next ball, Gabriel pitched it up but offered some width, and Shanto slashed it to Bonner at gully to leave Bangladesh at 11-2, the two wickets having come in the space of nine deliveries.
With Brathwaite shuffling Gabriel, Rahkeem Cornwall and Joseph with the new ball, Tamim Iqbal launched a counterattack in the company of his captain Mominul Haque, as the two senior batsmen added 58 off a little over 12 overs.
With Haque’s discomfort against short balls an open secret, the West Indies seamers placed a leg gully, and two men out in the deep for the miscued hook, but both Iqbal and Haque handled the fast bowlers well.
Iqbal took a special liking to Joseph, who strayed on to the pads far too often, and both also used the upper cut over the slips cordon to good effect, when it seemed like the game was just beginning to drift towards Bangladesh.
That’s when Cornwall was brought back on by Brathwaite, and Haque ended up playing a cut to one that was too close to his body, and was snapped up by Da Silva for 21.
Iqbal’s thrilling 44 off 52 balls, with six fours and a six, came to an end off Joseph, when he failed to keep a flick down and Shayne Moseley plucked an easy catch at short mid-wicket. At 71-4, Bangladesh had again lost two quick wickets inside six balls. (ESPNCricinfo)
