It was Towhid Hridoy once again who stood up when Bangladesh needed it with a gritty half-century. Towhid Hridoy had a great game as he scored his maiden Test double ton and followed it up with another gritty knock as it helped the second Test match in Sylhet end in a draw. Loads of positives for Bangladesh with Hridoy doing well and Hasan Mahmud picking up 6 wickets in the first innings and others chipping in here and there.
But it was the West Indies who walked away with the honours winning the series 1-0 after their triumph in Mirpur. Jomel Warrican was the star with the ball overall while Amir Jangoo and Kavem Hodge stood up with tons in each of the innings while debutant Kevin Wickham scored half-centuries in both the innings. It was a proper team effort and they were the only team that could have won on Day 5 but a docile pitch and bad light denied them the win. Bangladesh loses ground in WTC table.
Amir Jangoo’s ton alongside Hasan Mahmud’s 6-wicket haul were the main highlights in West Indies posting 356 in 106.4 overs in their first innings
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Brandon King and Joshua Da Silva came out to open the batting for West Indies while Taskin Ahmed had the ball in hand for Bangladesh. The opening duo could add 13 runs in 4 overs before King fell for 9 off 18 balls with 2 fours to his name to Taskin Ahmed who cleaned him up. Kavem Hodge came out to bat next. Just one run was added to the score before Hodge fell for 1 off 10 balls to Hasan Mahmud who cleaned him up as well.
Kevin Wickham came out to bat next. The duo added 13 more to the score before Joshua fell for 12 off 17 balls to Taskin. West Indies were reeling at 27/3 in 8.4 overs when Amir Jangoo joined Kevin Wickham in the middle. The duo led West Indies’ fightback as they played till Lunch and beyond and put on a match shifting 131 run stand for the 4th wicket with Jangoo dominating proceedings and Wickham playing his part and getting to his maiden fifty. Wickham it is who fell after Lunch for 61 off 145 balls with 5 fours to his name to Mahmud who knocked him over.
Justin Greaves came out to bat with the West Indies back on track now. The duo forged a partnership and took West Indies to 236/4 in 70 overs when Bad Light halted proceedings for the day on Day 1. The duo resumed on Day 2 as well. They put on 106 for the 5th wicket which saw Jangoo reach his ton on the opening day while Greaves played second fiddle. It was Jangoo who fell first-up on Day 2 for 133 off 212 balls with 13 fours and 2 wickets to his name to Mahmud who knocked him over with a peach.
Captain Roston Chase came and went for a golden duck as Mahmud had two in two balls and was on a hat-trick. Joshua Bishop came and survived the hat-trick ball. Bishop and Greaves got together and added 33 runs for the 7th wicket before Bishop fell for a quickfire 23 off 25 balls with 5 fours to his name to Mahmud yet again. Shamar Joseph was in next. Just 4 runs were added to the score to bring up the team’s 300 before Greaves, the last of the recognised batter fell for 51 off 112 balls with 4 fours to his name to Mehidy Hasan Miraz who knocked him over.
Jomel Warrican came out to bat next. Joseph and Warrican added 22 runs for the 9th wicket before Shamar fell for 16 off 18 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Mahmud who knocked him over and completed his 6-wicket haul. Jayden Seales joined Warrican in the middle. The tail wagged for the visitors as Warrican and Joseph played useful hands.
The duo put on 33 for the final wicket before Seales was the last man out for 15 off 38 balls with 2 fours to his name. Warrican remained unbeaten on 27 off 48 balls with 4 fours to his name as West Indies finished with 356 in 106.4 overs. 8 extras given by the fielding side.
Hasan Mahmud was the star with the ball in hand for Bangladesh finishing with 6/90 in 21 overs. He was ably supported by Taskin Ahmed who finished with 2/90 in 21 overs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz chipped in with 2/82 in 31.4 overs. Taijul Islam finished with 0/54 in 19 overs. Nayeem Hasan finished with 0/37 in 11 overs. Now, it was time for Bangladesh to bat in their first innings.
Towhid Hridoy’s fantabulous maiden double ton powers Bangladesh to 386 in 111.5 overs
With Shadman Islam twisting his ankle while fielding in the first innings, Bangladesh opened with Tanzid Hasan and Nayeem Hasan while Jayden Seales had the ball in hand for West Indies. The opening duo added 13 runs for the first wicket before Nayeem fell for 5 off 6 balls with one four to his name to Jayden Seales. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto came out to bat next. Shanto and Tanzid added 9 runs for the second wicket before Tanzid fell for 16 off 33 balls with 2 fours to his name to Justin Greaves. Towhid Hridoy walked in next.
Shanto and Hridoy added 29 runs for the 3rd wicket before Shanto the captain fell for 18 off 65 balls with one four and one six to his name to Shamar Joseph who knocked him over. Mushfiqur Rahim walked out to bat next. The duo got in and took the score initially to 88/3 when bad light again came to end Day 2. The duo resumed on the moving day i.e. Day 3 with the match nicely poised.
On Day 3 it was the Towhid Hridoy show as he single-handedly kept his side in the game. Hridoy and Rahim added 73 runs for the 4th wicket before Rahim fell for 34 off 76 balls with 4 fours to his name to Jomel Warrican. Keeper batter Litton Das came out to bat next. Litton hit a couple of boundaries to kickstart his innings. Just 14 runs were added to the tally before Litton fell for 8 off 7 balls with 2 fours to his name to Warrican. Mehidy Hasan Miraz came out to bat next.
Bangladesh were in a spot of bother at 138/5 in 50 overs. Miraz and Hridoy tried to forge a partnership with Hridoy scoring the bulk of the runs. The duo added 41 runs for the 6th wicket before Miraz fell for 16 off 30 balls with 3 fours to his name to captain Roston Chase. Hasan Mahmud came out to bat next. Just 5 runs were added to the tally before Hasan fell for 1 off 12 balls to Warrican. Taijul Islam came out to bat next.
From here, Hridoy was in full flow as he took the attack to the West Indies. Taijul did well to hang in there, but Hridoy was taking on the visitors on his own. The duo added a match-defining 117 runs for the 8th wicket and took the score past 300 before Taijul fell for a useful 22 off 56 balls with 3 fours to his name to Warrican. Taskin Ahmed came out to bat next.
Taskin did well to hang in there as Hridoy completed his double ton shortly after Tea on Day 3. The duo of Taskin and Hridoy took Bangladesh in front which was looking impossible at one stage. The duo added another mind blowing 85-run stand for the 9th wicket before Taskin fell for 12 off 29 balls with 2 fours to his name to Jayden Seales. With Shadman Islam unable to bat, the innings ended at 386 in 111.5 overs. Hridoy remained unbeaten on 242 off 359 balls with 22 fours and 11 sixes to his name. 12 extras given by the fielding side.
It was hard work for the West Indies bowlers. Jomel Warrican was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/104 in 41 overs. Jayden Seales finished with 2/58 in 15.5 overs. Shamar Joseph finished with 1/82 in 20 overs. Justin Greaves finished with 1/10 in 6 overs. Captain Roston Chase finished with 1/66 in 13 overs. Joshua Bishop finished with 0/59 in 16 overs. Bangladesh had a lead of 30 runs after the first innings and it was now the turn for West Indies to bat in their second innings.
Kavem Hodge’s 3rd Test ton powers West Indies to 398/6 declared in 93 oversÂ
Brandon King and Joshua Da Silva came out to open the innings for West Indies while Taskin Ahmed had the ball in hand for Bangladesh. The two openers negotiated the last part of Day 3 ending it at 7/0 in 4 overs with Bad Light again ending the proceedings. The duo resumed on Day 4 and played positive cricket on a docile track as the deficit was wiped out in no time and they went in front. The openers put on 85 for the first wicket before Joshua fell for 36 off 70 balls with 4 fours to his name to Taijul Islam. Kavem Hodge came out to bat next.
King was in full flow as he reached his fifty and looked good for more. King and Hodge added 34 runs for the second wicket before King fell for 61 off 84 balls with 10 fours and one six to his name to Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Kevin Wickham joined Hodge in the middle. The duo first took the score to 128/2 at Lunch on Day 4. Thereafter, they had a wicketless afternoon session. The duo added 131 runs for 0 wickets in the second session. West Indies were 259/2 at Tea on Day 4.
Kevin got his second half-century of the game while Hodge converted the half-century into a century. The duo put on a total of 165 runs for the 3rd wicket before Wickham fell for 78 off 107 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Taijul to a soft dismissal caught and bowled. Keeper batter Amir Jangoo joined Hodge in the middle. The duo took West Indies safely to close at 345/3 in 83 overs when Bad Light halted play again with the visitors 315 runs in front.
Unsurprisingly, West Indies opted to bat on in the final day. The duo took the score to 350 as they added 66 runs for the 4th wicket before Hodge fell for a magnificent 142 off 194 balls with 17 fours and one six to his name to Nayeem Hasan. Justin Greaves came out to bat next. Greaves and Jangoo added 19 runs for the 5th wicket before Greaves fell for 9 off 16 balls to Miraz. Shamar Joseph came up the order next. Just 3 runs were added to the score before Joseph fell for 1 off 3 balls to Nayeem.
Joshua Bishop came out to bat next. Bishop played his shots and added quick runs while Jangoo did his bit. The duo added 26 quick runs for the 7th wicket unbroken as West Indies reached 398/6 in 93 overs when they declared their innings and hour into Day 5. Jangoo remained unbeaten on 39 off 74 balls while Bishop remained unbeaten on 20 off 11 balls with one four and two sixes to his name. 12 extras given by the fielding side.
For Bangladesh, Taijul Islam finished with 2/118 in 29 overs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz finished with 2/85 in 27 overs. Nayeem Hasan finished with 2/72 in 15 overs. Taskin Ahmed finished with 0/51 in 11 overs. Hasan Mahmud finished with 0/61 in 11 overs. This meant that Bangladesh were set 369 runs in 2 and a bit session for an improbable win or hang in for a draw.
Towhid Hridoy’s gritty half-century saved the Test match for Bangladesh
Chasing an improbable 369 runs to win in less than a day, Tanzid Hasan and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto came out to open the batting for Bangladesh. Jayden Seales had the ball in hand for West Indies an hour into Day 5. The openers got off to a steady start as they added 33 runs for the first wicket inside 8 overs before Tanzid fell for 21 off 32 balls with 4 fours to his name to Jomel Warrican to a loose shot. Towhid Hridoy walked out to bat next. Just 7 runs were added to the score before Shanto fell for 14 off 27 balls with one four to his name to Warrican.
Mushfiqur Rahim came out to bat next. The duo took Bangladesh to 49/2 at the Lunch Break. Hridoy and Rahim applied themselves and showed great character to take Bangladesh to safety by going through a wicketless second session. The duo added 113 runs for 0 wickets in the second session and took Bangladesh to 162/2 at Tea on Day 5.
The duo carried on and added a total 135 runs for the third wicket before Hridoy fell for 82 off 140 balls with 8 fours to his name to Warrican who cleaned him up. Litton Das the keeper batter came out to bat next. Rahim and Das added 8 runs for the 4th wicket before Rahim fell for 49 off 123 balls with 6 fours to his name to Shamar Joseph. Mehidy Hasan Miraz came out to bat next.
Just one run was added to the score as Bangladesh reached 184/4 in 59 overs. Bad Light came early and the players walked off and then play was called off for good. The match ended in a draw. Litton was unbeaten on 7 off 29 balls with one four to his name while Miraz was unbeaten on 1 off 3 balls. 10 extras given by the fielding side.
Jomel Warrican was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/44 in 18 overs. Shamar Joseph finished with 1/31 in 10 overs. Jayden Seales finished with 0/11 in 3 overs. Captain Roston Chase finished with 0/47 in 16 overs. Joshua Bishop finished with 0/35 in 9 overs. Justin Greaves finished with 0/6 in 3 overs. So, the match ended in a draw. Towhid Hridoy was awarded the Player of the Match while Jomel Warrican was awarded the Player of the Series as West Indies won the series 1-0.
With this, the series came to an end. Bangladesh next tours South Africa for 2 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 3 T20Is from 15th November, onwards. While West Indies will have a break now from all forms of cricket.
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