It was a remarkable 3rd day’s play in Mirpur as the moving day provided twists and turns. West Indies fought hard throughout the day on a wearing pitch to keep themselves in the contest. Bad light once again played its part in curtailing play but not before 12 wickets fell on the day. Bangladesh had the first innings lead and West Indies will bat last. But the tourists are trying hard. West Indies posted 245 in the first innings with Nayeem Hasan picking up 4 wickets as Bangladesh got a slender 27-run lead in the first innings.
Bangladesh were rocked by Roston Chase as the captain picked up 3 wickets while others chipped in. Bangladesh finished the day at 79/6 in 29 overs with a lead of 106 runs with the pitch turning square. This match can go either way but West Indies will be batting last at the end of it all.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul falls after gritty half-century as Bangladesh strike twice in the morning session.Â
Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Justin Greaves came out to resume proceedings for West Indies while Hasan Mahmud had the ball in hand for Bangladesh to start Day 3. Greaves hit the first ball with a punch through covers for a triple while Mahmud overstepped as well. Taijul Islam shared the attack from the other end. Taijul bowled a quiet first over. Mahmud continued and gifted 4 byes as a bonus to the batting side. Taijul continued as Chanderpaul broke the shackles as he got down on one knee and slog swept it over deep midwicket for the maximum. The 50-run stand came up between the two players.
Mahmud continued and bowled a decent over. Chanderpaul reached his third Test fifty in 164 balls. Shoriful Islam came into the attack for the first time on Day 3. Shoriful bowled a maiden. Taijul continued and bowled a quiet over. Shoriful continued as Chanderpaul got on his toes and guided it to backward point for a triple. Taijul continued and bowled a quiet over. Shoriful continued and got the breakthrough for Bangladesh as Chanderpaul edged it to second slip where Shanto dived to second slip to his right. Chanderpaul departed for 56 off 184 balls with 6 fours and one six to his name.
Captain Roston Chase came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary with a whip between midwicket and mid-on for a boundary. Taijul continued as Chase drove it left of covers for a boundary. Shoriful continued and bowled a quiet over. Taijul continued and bowled a quiet over. West Indies were 176/5 in 62 overs as we paused for Drinks in the morning session.
Shoriful Islam continued after the break and bowled a quiet over. Taijul continued and bowled a quiet over. Hasan Mahmud came back into the attack and he bowled a quiet over. Taijul continued as Greaves went deep in the crease and pulled it between midwicket and mid-on for a boundary. Mahmud continued and bowled a decent over. Taijul bowled another decent over. Nayeem Hasan came back into the attack next. He started with a quiet over.
Taijul continued as Greaves went back and pulled the ball square of the wicket for a boundary. Hasan continued as the 200 came up for West Indies in 70.3 overs. Chase hammered the ball through the covers for a boundary. Mehidy Hasan Miraz came into the attack for the first time on Day 3. He bowled a decent over. Nayeem continued as Chase got an inside edge to Mominul at short leg who put down the catch.
Mehidy continued as the 50-run stand came up between the duo. Nayeem continued and broke through as the 51-run stand was broken as Greaves was adjudged plumb in front LBW for 46 off 103 balls with 2 fours to his name at the stroke of Lunch. Chase remained unbeaten on 30 as West Indies were 213/6 in 74.5 overs still trailing by 59 runs as we paused for the Lunch Break.
Nayeem Hasan runs through West Indies to restrict them to 245; West Indies hit back with flurry of wickets to rock Bangladesh in action-packed afternoon session.Â
Joshua Bishop joined Roston Chase in the middle as Nayeem Hasan had to complete the over. Bishop got off the mark with a boundary as he got down on one knee and swept it in front of square for a boundary. Mehidy Hasan Miraz continued from the other end as Chase got on the front foot and drove through extra cover for a boundary. Nayeem continued as Bishop danced down the track and lofted it over Taijul at mid-off for a boundary.
Miraz continued as Bishop got a lifeline as Mominul dropped the catch at short leg and hurt himself as he banged his head on the turf. Mominul walked off the field. Bishop got on the front foot and drove through the covers for a boundary. Miraz had the last laugh as he dismissed Bishop for 15 off 11 balls with 3 fours to his name as he was stumped playing a bad shot. Shamar Joseph came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Chase went for the reverse sweep and hit it away through backward point for a boundary.
Nayeem continued and bowled a decent over. Miraz continued and bowled a quiet over. The second new ball was due but Bangladesh decided against taking it. Nayeem got another as Shamar edged it to the keeper Litton Das for 4 off 10 balls. Jomel Warrican came out to bat next. Nayeem got another wicket to his name as Warrican was trapped LBW for a 4th ball duck. Warrican reviewed in hope and burnt the DRS for his team. Jayden Seales came out to bat last.
Miraz continued and bowled a maiden. Nayeem Hasan continued and got rid of Seales for a 5th ball duck as Miraz took the catch. Chase remained unbeaten on 43 off 60 balls with 5 fours to his name as West Indies folded for 245 in 82.5 overs. 5 extras given by the fielding side as the first innings lead went to Bangladesh of 27 runs.
For Bangladesh’s point of view, Nayeem Hasan was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/33 in 10.5 overs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz finished with 2/65 in 25 overs. Taijul Islam finished with 2/76 in 26 overs. Hasan Mahmud finished with 1/38 in 11 overs. Shoriful Islam finished with 1/29 in 10 overs. With a lead of 27 runs, it was Bangladesh’s turn to bat in the second innings.
Shadman Islam and Tanzid Hasan came out to open the batting for Bangladesh in the second innings while Jayden Seales had the ball in hand for West Indies. Seales overstepped but bowled a decent over. Shamar Joseph shared the new ball from the other end. He drew first blood for the West Indies as he dismissed Tanzid for a 2nd ball duck as the edge was taken by Chase at gully. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto came out to bat next. Joseph bowled a wicket maiden.
Seales continued as Islam drove it past mid-off for a boundary. Joseph continued and bowled a quiet over as floodlights were switched on with the conditions becoming darker. Jomel Warrican came into the attack next. He bowled a miserly over. Joseph continued as Shadman pressed back and pulled it away through midwicket for a boundary. Joseph gave away 5 wides as a bonus to the batting side. Captain Roston Chase came into the attack next. He started with a miserly over.
Joseph continued as Shanto punched the ball through extra cover for a boundary. Chase continued and bowled a quiet over. Bangladesh were 28/1 in 9 overs when we paused for Drinks in the afternoon session. Seales returned after the break and bowled a maiden. Then the big breaking news came in was that Jaker Ali was added to the XI as a concussion substitute in place of Mominul Haque. Chase continued and knocked Islam over for 13 off 30 balls with 2 fours to his name. Towhid Hridoy came out to bat next.
Chase got two wickets in the over as he dismissed Hridoy with the batter launching a heave down the ground as Seales at mid-on backtracked to take the catch. Litton Das the keeper batter came out to bat next. Warrican returned and bowled a quiet over. Chase continued and dismissed his counterpart Shanto for 10 off 37 balls LBW with one boundary to his name. The batter reviewed in hope and burnt the DRS as well. Jaker Ali came out to bat next.
Jaker got off the mark straightaway. Bangladesh reached 34/4 in 13 overs with Litton unbeaten on 4 off 7 balls while Jaker Ali was unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball as players walked off the field due to drizzle and tea was taken as well.
West Indies strike twice as bad light curtails the final session yet again.Â
Play resumed after Tea under gloomy conditions with Litton Das and Jaker Ali resuming for Bangladesh while Jomel Warrican had the ball in hand for West Indies. Warrican struck straightaway after tea as he dismissed Litton for 4 off 10 balls LBW. The batter reviewed and burnt the DRS for his side again. Mehidy Hasan Miraz came out to bat next. Chase continued and bowled a decent over. Warrican bowled another decent over.
Chase continued as Jaker came down the track and heaved it away through deep midwicket for a boundary. Warrican continued and bowled a quiet over. Chase bowled another decent over. Warrican continued as the 50 came up for Bangladesh in 19.2 overs. Chase bowled another miserly over. Warrican continued and dismissed Miraz for 9 off 32 balls by cleaning him up with a beauty. Nayeem Hasan came out to bat next.
Chase continued and bowled a decent over. Warrican bowled another good over. Chase continued and bowled a decent over. Warrican continued and bowled a decent over. Joshua Bishop came into the attack next. He felt he had gotten rid of Nayeem LBW. But the batter reviewed and replays detected it was an inside edge as the decision was reversed to NOT OUT. Nayeem got a full ball on the pads and tickled it around the corner for a boundary.
Warrican continued as Nayeem swept it away through the midwicket region for a boundary. Bishop continued and bowled a decent over. Bangladesh were 79/6 in 29 overs with Jaker unbeaten on 18 off 32 balls with one four to his name while Nayeem was unbeaten on 18 off 30 balls with 2 fours to his name. The lights got darker as bad light intervened and never improved thereby drawing curtains on Day 3. Bangladesh led by 106 runs with 4 wickets in hand.
For the West Indies bowlers point of view, captain Roston Chase was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/25 in 10 overs. Jomel Warrican finished with 2/19 in 10 overs. Shamar Joseph finished with 1/17 in 4 overs. Jayden Seales bowled 3 overs for 7 runs. Joshua Bishop bowled 2 overs for 10 runs. It’s all to play for now on Day 4.
What Lies Ahead on Day 4.Â
The Test match in Mirpur is nicely balanced after 3 days affected by bad light. The pitch is taking spin and a lead of 106 runs is handy for the hosts. West Indies have fought hard to stay in the game throughout the day. The visitors will be aiming to take the last 4 wickets as soon as possible and chase as low a target as possible. Bangladesh will be aiming to set over 150 runs maybe close to 200 as spin will be key to win.
Let’s see how the penultimate day of the first Test match pans out light permitting in Mirpur, Dhaka.
Also Read: BAN VS WI: Jomel Warrican’s 5-Wicket Haul Keeps West Indies Afloat.