Bangladesh imploded spectacularly at the top but they kept playing like millionaires to be restricted to a below-par 118, which West Indies overhauled without breaking a sweat.

Sunday’s Twenty20 International was the last game of the tour for Bangladesh. The two tests and three one day internationals had ended in a historic sweep for Bangladesh as they won the tests 2-0 and the one dayers’ 3-0 against a second string West Indian side marred by a player boycott.

Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat but never really got the innings going. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals in an innings which included as many as four run-outs which demonstrated the recklessness with which Bangladesh played in this game.

Naeem Islam was the only one who stuck around at the wicket for some time making 27 off 18 balls. Mahmudullah scored 21 off 27 balls and was the second highest scorer of the innings with no other batsman even managing to reach 20.

Bangladesh finished their innings at 118 for 9 off their 20 overs. For the West Indies, Nikita Miller was the pick of the bowlers ending with figures of 2 for 22 off his 4 overs. Darren Sammy took 2 for 33 while Tonge chipped in with 1 wicket.

The only worry for West Indies against a meager total of 118 was whether they would be able to handle the Bangladeshi spin bowlers on a pitch that was turning.

Shakib, bowling his left-arm spin, removed opener Dale Richards with the very first ball of the West Indies’ run-chase. But Bangladesh was put on the back-foot by a stand of 46 between Andre Fletcher and fellow Grenadian Devon Smith that put West Indies firmly on course.

The result was secured, when Travis Dowlin, whose run-a-ball 37 was the top score, pulled a long-hop from left-arm spinner Mehrab Hossain Jr for the last of his five fours.

Mohammad Ashraful ended with two wickets for 18 runs from two overs.

“We didn’t bat well, especially the top-order batsmen, including myself, and we didn’t play smart cricket, that was our downfall,” said Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan.

“I don’t know why we played like this, but we didn’t execute our game plan well. If you have four run-outs in an innings, it will be very difficult for you to score runs in a T20.”

He added, “We have played very good cricket for the last month, and one bad game does not make us look bad. We are looking forward to our trip to Zimbabwe. It will be very important to us.”

“It’s good to have ended the series on a winning note,” said West Indies captain Floyd Reifer, who made 22.

“I thought the guys fielded really well to put them under pressure. In our team meetings, we talked about Twenty20 being a really fast-paced form of the game, and we needed everyone to be sharp in the field.”

Reifer added, “It was going to be difficult for us coming into this match after losing the Tests and ODIs.”But I told the guys that we had to look forward to the future, and think about the bigger picture. We needed to move forward and keep improving.”

Brief Scores:

West Indies 119 for 5 (Smith 37, Dowlin 37*) beat

Bangladesh 118 for 9 (Islam 27, Sammy 2-33, Miller 2-22) by five wickets

Man of the Match: Darren Sammy (West Indies)

Bangladesh won the opening match of the three match series by 52 runs, second match by 3 wickets and ending it with winning the third ODI by 3 wickets.

Bangladesh again had the better of the West Indies batsmen bowling them out for 248. Although, it was a much better performance by the Windies batsmen but a score of 248 was still a par score with the kind of bowling attack that West Indies had.

Andre Fletcher was the top scorer West Indies with 52. Skipper Floyd Reifer and Darren Sammy made 40 apiece. Mahbubul Alam, Abdur Razzak and Mahmudullah picked up 2 wickets each for Bangladesh.

In reply, Bangladesh got off to a flying start reaching their 50 in just 7 overs. Tamim Iqbal started off the innings all guns blazing making a breezy 30 off 27 balls with 5 fours and a six in it before falling to Sammy caught by Powell at mid-on. The openers, Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique, put on 54 for the first wicket.

The game turned around after the fall of the first wicket and from 54 for 1, Bangladesh slumped to 133 for 5. But they recovered through a serene partnership between Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim. The duo played risk free cricket just picking up singles and two’s and chipping in an odd boundary here and there to get closer to the target.

Importantly, they knew the batting Powerplay could be taken later when acceleration was the need of the hour; till then it was time to play safe cricket. Mushfiqur picked up a couple of boundaries in the 38th over but he was unlucky to be given out caught behind in the 40^th over, when replays showed he did not get bat on a flick down the pads.

Bangladesh enforced the batting Powerplay in the 44^th over and immediately runs started coming freely. First, Naeem Islam thrashed three boundaries off Gavin Donge. Mahmudullah then picked a six over long-off against Nikita Miller and Naeem hit another six, off Kemar Roach, before falling to the same bowler but by then the pair had ensured that they made full use of the Powerplay to seal the victory. West Indies were left to rue the first-ball reprieve that they offered to Mahmudullah when Darren Sammy spilled a catch at first slip.

Mahmudullah and Abdur Razzak made sure that Bangladesh didn’t face any more concerns and took them home safely with 7 balls to spare. Mahmudullah finished with 51 not out while Razzak was unbeaten on 6. Junaid Siddique top scored for Bangladesh with 55.

For the West Indies, Roach was again the man who picked up the wickets although he did give away a lot of runs. He ended with figures of 4/63. Sammy picked up 2 and Bernard picked up 1 wicket.

With the 3 wicket win, Bangladesh won the series 3-0 following a 2-0 whitewash of the test series. For the West Indies this series will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Players’ strike, Second string team and not winning a single match against a team like Bangladesh.

But for Bangladesh, this would always be a golden chapter in the history of their game. An away tour where they didn’t lose a single game. They made a clean sweep in both the test and the ODI series. Whatever the circumstances, that is still a big achievement.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh 249 for 7 (Siddique 55, Mahmudullah 51*, Roach 4-63) beat West Indies 248 (Fletcher 52, Mahmudullah 2-38, Mahbubul 2-42) by three wickets.

Man of the Match: Mahmudullah (Bangladesh)

Man of the Series: Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)

Bangladesh, who had already won the test series 2-0 and the 1^st one dayer by 52 runs, were led from the front by skipper Shakib Al Hasan’s effortless knock of 65 from 61 balls. He was ably supported by the former captain Mohammad Ashraful who made 64 from 77 balls after Travis Dowlin had helped West Indies put up a good total of 274 on the board making his 1^st ODI century.

Earlier, West Indies posted 274 for 6 on the board largely due to Dowlin’s 1^st ODI century. Dowlin made an even 100 off 117 balls and with help from Devon Smith (44) and some useful contributions by the lower order took West Indies to a fighting total of 274. Darren Sammy chipped in with 22 not out off 11 balls in the end. Bangladesh spinners, who had troubled West Indies all throughout the tour, couldn’t do much this time. Naeem Islam was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 1 for 26 off 8 overs. Shakib Al Hasan, Razzak and Rasel also picked up a wicket each.

In reply, Bangladesh got off to a steady start with the opening pair putting up 46 for the first wicket. But from 46 for no loss, Bangladesh went to 64 for 2 and was struggling a bit. The fall of second wicket brought Ashraful and Raqibul Hasan together and they played with a lot of maturity and determination. They added 52 for the 3^rd wicket before Raqibul misjudged a slower ball by Bernard. He made 20.

And then came the match winning partnership for Bangladesh. Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Ashraful came together with the score at 116 for 3 in 26 overs. Ashraful then started breaking the shackles. He first made room and slashed Bernard in the 28th over for the first boundary in 70 balls. When Rawl Lewis replaced Bernard in the next over, Ashraful lofted him over long-off for a six, bringing up his second fifty in three days. It is the first time that Ashraful has made back to back fifties since 2006. Meanwhile Shakib also joined him in the charge sweeping both Lewis and Bernard over midwicket. Those three overs brought Bangladesh 32 runs, and also brought down the asking-rate to less than six.

When Ashraful was dismissed for 64 trying to go for another big hit of Lewis, Bangladesh still needed 85 runs of 82 balls. Shakib was then joined by Mushfiqur Rahman but the onus was clearly on Shakib. The boundaries were not easy to come – even Lewis negated the big sweep with googlies and straighter ones – but Shakib ran purposefully. He had to run all but six of his last 50 runs, but hardly did he ever let the scoring-rate fall.

But Sammy got the big breakthrough for the West Indies when he dismissed Shakib in the 44^th over for 65 with Bangladesh on 238 still needing 37 to win off 41 balls. Chaos followed in the next few overs with West Indies bowling 3 wides, Deven Thomas – the wicketkeeper, having to bowl the rest of Roach’s overs as he was barred from bowling after he bowled two beamers. Mahmudullah gifted his wicket to Thomas with a leading edge. Thomas then saw two of his straight deliveries being punished and bowled two off-side wides to compensate. Mushfiqur returned the favour by hitting a fulltoss straight to cover. During that surreal period, the only question was which team wanted to lose more badly.

But with some sloppy fielding from the West Indies and luck favouring Bangladesh with a few edges here and there, Bangladesh reached the series win with an outside-edged boundary by Abdur Razzak.

“I can’t explain the feeling,” said Shakib. “The boys have tried their best. The team has been supportive throughout the series, and so have the support staff, and we have done well. This was a good win though. It was much tougher. They really tested us, and they played our spinners really well.”

“We thought that 274 was a brilliant score. Travis played really, really well for his hundred,” said West Indies captain Floyd Reifer. “We knew coming into the game with five bowlers we were taking a risk, and it did not help that we lost three of our bowlers at critical stages. But I thought we played well and put in a big effort.”

“There have been a lot of positives which the guys can take from this series. It’s a young team, and we all need to be patient with them,” he added.

The final ODI of the series will be played on Friday at St.Kitts.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh 276 for 7 (Shakib 65, Ashraful 64) beat

West Indies 274 for 5 (Dowlin 100*, Smith 44) by three wickets

Man of the Match: Shakib Al Hasan.

Roseau, Dominica: Shakib Al Hasan once again led from the front and along with Abdur Razzak sealed the win for Bangladesh in the 1^st one dayer against West Indies. Bangladesh won the opening one dayer of the series by 52 runs.

Razzak, who was barred from bowling in international cricket due to a suspect bowling action, made a triumphant return by picking up 4 wickets for just 39 runs as he helped Bangladesh defend a modest target of 247. Razzak opened the bowling for the tigers and succeeded in pushing back West Indies early in the chase by picking up the wicket of Richards.

“I was not surprised when the captain gave me the new ball, especially the way the pitches have been playing in the Caribbean during this series,” said Razzak.

“When I played in the Caribbean in the 2007 World Cup, I also used the new ball, so it’s normal. But this was important for me. I was out of the team for eight months, and now I am back in the side, I am looking to do well.”

Shakib Al Hasan once again proved that he is one of the emerging all-rounders in World cricket by giving a brilliant performance with the bat when Bangladesh needed it the most. He made 54 of just 60 balls. And then he came back with to pick up 1-26 of 8 overs with the ball.

Earlier, Bangladesh, sent in to bat, could only manage to put up 246 on the board for the loss of 9 wickets from their allocated 50 overs. Mohammad Ashraful top scored for the tigers with 57 and Shakib Al Hasan made a fluent 54 to lead Bangladesh to a respectable score despite Kemar Roach’s career best performance of 5-44.

But Razzak, who did not play in his team’s successful Test series, gave Bangladesh the much needed boost, when he trapped West Indies opener Dale Richards lbw for one in the second over.

Bangladesh continued to build the pressure, particularly with their spin bowlers operating from very early, and West Indies slumped to 42 for four in the 12th over.

Devon Smith and Dave Bernard Jr then put together a handy partnership of 78 runs for the 5^th wicket to put West Indies back in the game but Shakib Al Hasan made the breakthrough when needed by trapping Smith lbw for 65.

Just 3 overs later, Naeem Islam got Bernard caught at mid-wicket for 38 and West Indies slumped to 130 for 6.

Rawl Lewis and Darren Sammy did try to put up some resistance with a stand of 41 for the seventh wicket but the game was always slipping away from their hands. And once Lewis was bowled by Rubel Hossain for 21 in the 40^th over, the game was almost over for the West Indies.

The rest of the tail couldn’t put up any fight and West Indies were bowled out for 194 in just 43.4 overs. Their inability to bat out the entire quota of 50 overs probably playing a big part in their loss.

For Bangladesh, Razzak returned with figures of 4-39 of 9.4 overs while Shakib was the most economical conceding just 26 runs of his 8 overs and also picking up the important wicket of Devon Smith.

“We lost the game with our batting,” said West Indies captain Floyd Reifer.

“We didn’t get the start we wanted from the top, and this is something that is worrying us at the moment. We are not getting enough partnerships at the top of the innings. We are quite happy with the balance of the team,” he added.

Shakib said, “We were always confident with the final total we posted because we knew the pitch was playing a little slowly and we had four spinners in our side.”

“I have been surprised by the nature of the pitches in the Caribbean. I thought they would have had more bounce and pace. But it suited our spinners, and [on Sunday], Razzak came back into the side, bowled well, and did a good job for us,” he added.

The victory gives Bangladesh a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with the second ODI scheduled for the same venue on Tuesday and the final ODI on Friday at Warner Park in St. Kitts.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh 246 for 9 (Ashraful 57, Shakib 54, Roach 5-44) beat

West Indies 194 (Smith 65, Razzak 4-39) by 52 runs.

Man of the Match: Abdur Razzak.

Lloyd was brutal in his criticism of the cricketers who boycotted the test series against Bangladesh over a dispute regarding the contracts with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

“When you say the West Indies team is going to withdraw from a series it is not that they are short of money. We have players who are millionaires with an average of 15.00 and they are a first-team pick,” a sarcastic Lloyd said.

“We have players who are being paid USD 500,000 or more and they do not pay a cent in any tax. We are the only country where players don’t pay any tax,” the former captain was quoted as saying by ‘Cricinfo’.

West Indies cricket is facing a deep crisis with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), representing the players’, and the West Indies Cricket Board entering a tug-of-war that resulted in West Indies fielding a second-string squad that lost the home Test series against Bangladesh 2-0.

Even though WIPA and WICB have reached a truce with both the parties ready to come to the negotiation table, Lloyd and Holding have slammed both the bodies for their inept handling of the dispute.

“The WICB are a dysfunctional organisation that need to realise they are dealing with a modern game and changing times,” a bitter Holding said.

“They have been left behind due to their inept staff and an outdated board of directors, most of whom take up space instead of offering something to the organisation or the game,” he added.

Lloyd also voiced the same sentiments and reminded everyone of the issue where five players, including skipper Chris Gayle, demanded a compensation for missing a part of the Indian Premier League due to their series against England.

“WICB received USD 2 million for the England series but our players wanted 600,000. Then we had to compensate someone for missing out on the IPL. What I can’t understand why do we need to compensate and pay somebody to play for your country. That to me is nonsense,” an enraged Lloyd said.

West Indies’ players have finally ended their strike and made themselves available for the ODI series against Bangladesh. The decision was taken by the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) after the appointment of an arbitrator to settle their dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

The original squad picked by the board for the test series against Bangladesh had boycotted the series due to a dispute over player contracts. The strike made the selectors pick a second string side for the series and West Indies lost both the tests giving Bangladesh their first ever overseas test victory.

The WICB and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), which is negotiating on the cricketers’ behalf, agreed to resolve the dispute by mediation on Tuesday, after meeting with Guyana president Bharat Jagdeo, who is also the chairman of the 15-nation trading bloc Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM). Both sides agreed to the appointment of former Commonwealth secretary general Shridath Ramphal as arbitrator.

“It was agreed that in the light of the Mediation Agreement which the Parties expect to lead to the resolution of outstanding issues all the players will make themselves available for selection,” they said in a joint statement.

“The mediation team, with assistance from the Caricom secretariat, would begin work immediately,” they said. “Both parties have taken this step, mindful of the interest of their respective organisations but conscious also of their wider responsibility to the people of the West Indies and the international sport of cricket.”

The agreement assumes immense importance as there were rumors flying that if the dispute doesn’t end soon than West Indies may have to go in with a weakened squad in the ICC Champions Trophy. The ICC had also agreed to act as a mediator and help in settling the dispute.

WICB had already announced a second string squad for the ODI series against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s stand-in captain Shakib Al Hasan led from the front yet again with a 96 not out as his side beat the West Indies in the second and final test of the series and clinched the series 2-0 giving them their first ever test series win abroad.

Shakib, who termed this as the biggest thing for the Bangladesh team in the 9 years of their test journey, hit the winning runs in style by hitting a six to seal the win. The win may have come against a weakened West Indian team after the senior players boycotted the series over a pay dispute, but a series win is special nonetheless especially when it’s your first. It was also the first time that Bangladesh won two successive test matches.

Shakib and Raqibul Hasan – who made 65 – both scored their career best scores to successfully chase down the target of 215 as Bangladesh got home with 4 wickets in hand and claimed only their second test series win ever and their first overseas.

The day started with West Indies at 192/8, leading by 197 runs. But they couldn’t extend the lead much and were bowled out for 209 setting Bangladesh a target of 215 to win. Shakib Al Hasan finished with figures of 5-70 with Enamul Haque providing able support and picking up 3-48.

Bangladesh made a steady start to their innings reaching 17 for no loss at lunch. But Roach struck after lunch removing the opener Imrul Kayes caught at slip by Sammy for 8. Darren Sammy then came to the party and gave Bangladesh some nervous times. He first removed Iqbal who was caught behind the wicket for 18 leaving Bangladesh at 29-2. Sammy didn’t stop there and picked up two more wickets – Siddique and Ashraful – to leave Bangladesh struggling at 67-4 with about half an hour to go for the tea break.

At the fall of the fourth wicket, Shakib joined Raqibul at the crease and they matted with great maturity and determination to put Bangladesh on the path of victory by putting on a solid partnership of 106 for the fifth wicket. Raqibul made his first test fifty, reaching the landmark of 74 balls, in what was a gutsy innings by the talented young batsmen. Shakib then reached his fifty when he hit Roach for a boundary, his first of the three in succession in that over.

But Darren Sammy came back to remove Raqibul for 65 with Bangladesh still needing 44 runs to win. Raqibul, who had a forgettable 1^st test match, played probably an innings that he will remember for his lifetime, batting for almost 3 hours, hitting eight fours and a six in his 65 that came of 99-balls.

Wicketkeeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim then joined Shakib and put together another useful partnership before chipping one back to Sammy of his own bowling giving Sammy his 5^th wicket of the innings. Bangladesh still needed 14 runs to win the match and Shakib made sure that there were no last minute turnarounds and took Bangladesh safely over the edge. Shakib finished with 96 not out including 13 fours in his effortless innings. Sammy picked up 5-55 in 16 overs for the West Indies but it wasn’t enough to save the test for the hosts.

After the match an elated Shakib said, “In our nine years, this is the biggest thing that has happened to Bangladesh cricket.”

Shakib who was also named the Man of the Match for his brilliant all round performance went on to add, “This series victory will give a boost to our confidence, and will help to take us to the next level, and with God’s help, we shall go forward.”

“There was not too much pressure on us (on Monday), since the boys have been playing really, really well. It was a good victory.”

On the other hand, West Indies captain, Floyd Reifer said that they had a good chance of winning the match inspite of not having enough runs on the board.

“We had a good opportunity to win the game in the second innings, but we did not bat too well,” said West Indies captain Floyd Reifer.”We always knew we needed around 280 runs to have a fighting chance to win the game and we fell way short.”

“It is pretty difficult to defend a victory target of 215. All they needed was one good partnership to have a good chance. But I felt Sammy bowled well, and our guys tried very hard, but it was a tough game.”

About the frailty of West Indies’ batsmen against spin, he said: “In our domestic first-class competition, the spinners get the most wickets every year. This is something we will have to examine closely as players, as coaches, and try to work out the best way to play spin bowling.”

“There are many positives we can take away from the Tests, and take into the One-day International series, so we shall be positive and look to win the ODI series.”

Shakib Al Hasan was also named the Man of the Series for leading from the front throughout the series and his brilliant all round performances especially in the second test where he picked up 8 wickets in the match while also scoring a match winning 96 not out in the second innings.

With Bangladesh finally winning abroad, although against a weakened team, it’s still a big day in the history of Bangladesh cricket and hopefully this series win will give them the much needed encouragement that they need to start believing in themselves and end their era as the underdogs!

Scores:

Bangladesh 232 (Rahim 48, Raqibul 44, Roach 6-48) and 217 for 6 (Shakib 96*, Raqibul 65, Sammy 5-55) beat West Indies 237 (Dowlin 95, Richards 69) and 209 (Bernard 69, Shakib 5-70) by four wickets

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan led from the front as Bangladesh reduced West Indies to 192 for 8 at the end of Day 3 of the second and final test match of the series. Although rain washed away a sizeable chunk of the day’s play but Bangladesh still managed to tighten the noose on the West Indies batsmen with only David Bernard putting up some resistance with an unbeaten knock of 61.

The Bangladesh spinners continued to fox the West Indies batsmen and the home team could only manage to extend their lead to 197 by the end of the third day at the Queens Park stadium.

On a day when rain washed away the entire evening session apart from an half hour stoppage before lunch and the afternoon session also started one and 10 minutes late, the Bangladesh spinners took their team one step closer to their dream of winning their first ever test series.

Shakib Al Hasan was the pick of the bowlers for Bangladesh with figures of 4 wickets for 61 runs in 22 overs. His fellow left arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr. has taken 2 wickets for 42 runs from 15 overs.

Shakib made the breakthrough early on the third day after West Indies continued from their overnight score of 56 for 1. Shakib remover Omar Phillips as the left hander was caught at deep square leg for 29. Just four overs later, Shakib got the wicket of Ryan Hinds as he was caught at leg slip for 2.

Mahmudullah who has been the most successful bowler for Bangladesh in the series then removed the West Indies skipper Floyd Reifer for 3. Reifer, who struggled throughout his innings, would consider himself a bit unlucky to be given lbw as the replays suggested that the ball may have missed the off stump.

95 for 4 became 110 for 5 when Enamul Haque Jr trapped Travis Dowlin lbw for 49 to another debatable decision. Darren Sammy and David Bernard then put together a useful partnership of 56 runs before Sammy was caught at mid-wicket by Raqibul of Haque for 22. That triggered another mini collapse for the West Indies with the hosts losing 3 wickets for just 21 runs in 43 balls.

Shakib first had Walton caught as slip for just 1 and then Shahadat Hossain came back for second spell to remove Ryan Austin for 3.

In the meantime, Bernard kept going strong from one end as he saw wickets fall regularly on the other. He reached his 3^rd fifty in the series. His fifty coming of just 56 balls as he swung an Enamul Haque delivery over mid-wicket for the sixth four of his innings. He was unbeaten on 61 of 71 balls when rain stopped play.

The entire final session was washed away by rain as West Indies were at 192 for 8 leading Bangladesh by 197 runs with 2 days to play.

Bangladesh leads the 2 test series 1-0 after they won the opening test in St.Vincent by 95 runs. The visitors just need a draw to clinch their first ever test series victory.

Scores:

West Indies 237 and 192/8 (Bernard 61*, Best 4*, Shakib 4-61) leads Bangladesh 232 (Rahim 48, Raqibul 44, Roach 6-48) by 197 runs.

Amidst all the controversies surrounding West Indies cricket at the moment, the second test match between West Indies and Bangladesh started with the hosts looking to draw the series by winning this match and Bangladesh knowing that they just need a draw to win their first ever test series. But when the teams took to the field it looked the other way around with Bangladesh being the more aggressive team of the two.

The start of the match was delayed by 30 minutes due to a damp pitch and not surprisingly Shakib al Hasan decided to bowl first on the damp pitch. West Indies got off to a good start with the opener Richards playing a swashbuckling innings of 69 from just 80 balls. But they lost their way in the middle with another legendary West Indian batting collapse before ending on a good note with a fighting partnership between Dowlin and Ryan Austin. But on the whole, West Indies played some really bad cricket throughout the day. At least four batsmen just threw their wickets away. You would expect a little more application and determination from a team which is trying to save a test series on their home soil. West Indian batsmen kept playing bad shots to get out and Bangladesh cashed in on it! In the end, West Indies was bowled out for a meagre 237 and Bangladesh was 35-1 at the end of Day 1.

West Indies dominated the first session of play with both openers — Richards and Omar Phillips putting up a good stand of 60 for the first wicket. Things started changing as soon as Shakib al Hasan introduced spin into the attack.

Shakib himself made the first breakthrough when he got Phillips caught at deep mid wicket for 23. As the Bangladesh spinners tied up the West Indians, Richards continued to play his strokes reaching his fifty of just 64 balls.

Shakib introduced the hero of the first test Mahmudullah just before the lunch break and he was greeted by Richards by hitting his second ball for a six over mid-wicket. But in the same over he was deceived by a well flighted delivery and gave an easy return catch to Mahmudullah to leave West Indies at 104-2. Two balls later, Mahmudullah took his second return catch with Hinds, who was rightly termed by Tony Cozier as a domestic cricket bully; as he failed to keep down a straight drive while Mahmudullah took a good low catch. Interestingly, Mahmudullah has not been doing anything out of the box like some other bowlers try to do. No doosras, no arm balls, he just bowls orthodox off breaks and keeps deceiving the batsmen. West Indies went into lunch at 107-3.

Floyd Reifer, captain of West Indies, who has looked uncomfortable against spin throughout the series, was the first to fall after the interval for 1, lbw by a straight Mahmudullah delivery. Wickets kept falling after that as West Indies slumped to 160-7.

Meanwhile, Dowlin stood firm at one end playing a patient innings and waiting for the bad balls to come along. And he finally got some support in the face of Ryan Austin who provided him able support and both of them took West Indies past 200. Austin fell with the score at 219 hitwicket by a Shahadat Hossain delivery. The ninth wicket too went quickly as Tino Best was bowled by Enamul Haque, who has come into the team in place of the injured Mortaza, for 0. Dowlin in the meantime was sticking it out at one end and he added 17 runs for the last wicket with Roach before falling 5 short of a well deserved century to leave the West Indies at 237 all out.

For Bangladesh, the bowling honours were shared between Mahmudullah, Shakib and Enamul Haque with all of them picking up 3 wickets each while Shahadat Hossain chipped in with 1 wicket.

Bangladesh came out to bat with just 10 overs remaining in the day’s play and managed to go to the close of play with just 1 wicket down. Imrul Kayes was the only wicket to fall caught behind by Walton of Darren Sammy for 14. Bangladesh was 35 for 1 at the end of Day 1 with Tamim Iqbal unbeaten on 14 and Enamul Haque unbeaten on 5.

After being bowled out under 250, West Indies has some serious catching up to do if they want to have any chance of saving this test match and stopping Bangladesh from winning their first ever test series.

Shakib Al Hasan has been named captain of Bangladesh for the second test match against the West Indies after Mashrafe Mortaza was ruled out with a knee injury.

“Mortaza has been ruled out of the second Test after he failed to recover from his injury,” the board announced in a press release.

“Vice-captain Shakib Al Hasan will lead the side while left-arm spinner Enamul Haque replaces Mortaza in the team.”

Mortaza had fallen badly on his right knee when bowling during the first test and spent the last two and a half days in recovery.

“Mortaza has injured the cartilage in his right knee. This was confirmed after an MRI performed three days ago. Advice from a specialist knee surgeon is being sought to confirm the management of the injury,” the board added.

Bangladesh won the first test of the two test series by 95 run and just need to draw the second test to register their first ever series win.

The second test starts on today at the Queen’s Park Stadium Complex in St.George’s, Grenada.

Bangladesh team for the second test:

Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Raqibul Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Shahadat Hossain, Enamul Haque, Rubel Hossain. 12th man: Mehrab Hossain.