KINGSTOWN – West Indies scored a comprehensive 10-wicket win over Bangladesh to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series at Arnos Vale yesterday.
Pacers Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel grabbed two wickets each to snuff out Bangladesh’s hopes of prolonging the fifth day, as the visitors, resuming on 256 for five, were bowled out for 314.
West Indies openers Chris Gayle and Kraigg Brathwaite steered their side to the 13 runs needed for victory in fine style well before the scheduled luncheon interval.
In spite of the thrashing, the fielding of the men in maroon was quite abysmal, as they dropped six catches, most of them “dollies”.
“It [the dropped catches] is a cause for concern,” captain Denesh Ramdin said after the victory. “It is very important we work on those areas. Our slip catching has hampered us in the past and in St Lucia we definitely need to hold all our chances.
“I think our team is in a good place. Our batsmen are getting runs and our bowlers are getting wickets. We hope the pitch at St Lucia will be a lot greener than the one we have had here.”
Ramdin praised Roach for his four-wicket haul on the final day and Kraigg Brathwaite who made his maiden Test double-hundred to help set up West Indies’ first innings.
“Roach bowled exceptionally well on a flat pitch, and he was backed up by the bowlers as well,” Ramdin said. “Brathwaite is definitely going from strength to strength and is displaying immense maturity. We hope he can continue on to bigger and better things. [Shivnarine] Chanderpaul also batted well to support Brathwaite.”
Bangladesh resumed their second innings trailing West Indies by 46 runs with Mushfiqur Rahim, 70 overnight, in sight of his third Test century.
Rahim tried to hold the Bangladesh innings together, reaching triple digits, while also leading the fight to save his side from an innings defeat.
His 116 was the innings of his life with 15 fours and a six. It ended when he was caught by Darren Bravo while attempting to hit Jerome Taylor over midwicket.
He survived four chances in his 243-ball innings – being dropped by Darren Bravo, Taylor and twice by Chris Gayle.
The Bangladesh middle-order batsman never got the support he required, except for Mahmudullah, who also scored a hard-fought 66.
The visitors started the day positively with Nasir Hossain dispatching Jerome Taylor’s full toss to the boundary and finding the boundary again three overs later off Roach.
However, Bangladesh’s hopes of a fight ended when Roach terminated the 42-run sixth-wicket stand between Mushfiqur and Nasir, which had taken Bangladesh through a difficult period late on the fourth day.
Gabriel ran in from mid-on to complete a simple catch near the non-strikers’ end as Nasir went for 19, which included three fours.
Roach was effective in the morning session, picking up two wickets to finish with a four-wicket haul, while Gabriel picked up two cheap wickets.
In another disappointing performance, Bangladesh lost five wickets for the addition of 58 runs and the last four batsmen were dismissed without scoring.
The final Test is due to start on Saturday at the Beausejour playing field in St Lucia. (CMC)
