ICC Test Championship
Bangabandhu Test Series
Bangladesh VS West Indies
2nd Match Played at SBNCS Dhaka
West Indies First Innings 225/5 in 90 overs (Nrumah Bonner 74*, Kraig Braithwaite 47, John Campbell 36, Jermaine Blackwood 28, Abu Jayed Rahi 2/46, Taijul Islam 2/62, Soumya Sarkar 1/ 30)
After a see saw battle of bat and ball for 90 overs on the first day of the very crucial second test at SBNCS Dhaka, both Bangladesh and West Indies should be equally satisfied with the proceedings of the day.
West Indies finished day one at 223/5.Given the sluggish character of the wicket having some purchase for both pacers and spinners West Indies may feel that they lost may be one wicket too many. Bangladesh possibly missed another frontline pacer. Briiliant batting by Nrumah Bonner was the feature of day one.
Bangladesh lost the first test at Chottogram by 3 wickets. Their mission is winning the test and leveling. A draw would be enough for West Indies for winning the series. Bangladesh bowlers bowled long spells at Chittagong only a few days earlier. Spinners must be tired a bit. All expected that Bangladesh would appear with two front line pacers. It is are bowlers who win matches. Bangladesh brought in their best pace bowler of longer version Abu Jayed Rahi but experts would suggest either Ebadat should have been included or Mustafiz should have been retained for bowling in tandem with Rahi. One could not also make out if Soumya could be brought into the team notwithstanding Bio Security condition why not Mahmudullah Raid? Nazmul Shanto and Mithun are not better than Mahmudullah.
Bangladesh replaced Shadman with Soumya, brought in Mithun for Shakib and replaced Mustafiz with Rahi. Bangladesh missed Mustafiz in the first session and in the last stage with the second new ball.
West Indies made one change only of their winning combination. Fast bowler Ajari Josef replaced Kemar Roach. West Indies winning the toss without any hesitation elected to bat. In my opinion West Indies won session one and three. Bangladesh bounced back in session two.
Despite having Soumya in the team and wicket having some purchase for pacers early on Bangladesh started with Rahi and Mehedy and did not bring Soumya in the first session. Rahi playing after a while did not ball full in the first spell. Brathwaite and Campbell did well putting up 66 for the first wicket. Perhaps Campbell was a bit unlucky. He possibly had a faint touch with his ball of a ball from Taijul before it struck his pad. He was adjudged LBW. Many would think benefit of doubt should have gone to the batsman. West Indies at lunch was 84/1.
Bangladesh had a great first hour after lunch. Rahi started asking questions as soon as he started bowling full. Soumya Sarkar coming to bowl grabbed the prized wicket of Braithwaite (47). Rahi struck double blows removing Moseley and Mayers. Bangladesh grabbed 3 wickets for 62 runs in the second session. West Indies at tea was 146/4.
West Indies batsmen applied after tea and kept Bangladesh bowlers at bay. We think Bonner batted exceedingly well and Da Silva gave him good company. But before that Blackwood also contributed very useful 28. At stumps West Indies was 223/5. It was excellent batting by Bonner. Great mate of Mayers in their historic match winning partnership at Chittagong Bonner proved he is there to stay in West Indies team for a while. His unbeaten 74 in 173 minutes was matured batting in testing condition. Da Silva was also unbeaten at 20 in 43 runs unbeaten 6th wicket partnership. Jayed looked impressive 2/46. Taijul took 2/64. Bangladesh spinners were stereotyped with little variation.
On this Wicket score of 350 will be extremely useful. The wicket has something for every bowler. Bangladesh will have to bat last also. On a wicket where Rahi and even Soumya bowled well Gabriel and Josef will create issues. Rakheem and Warican can also be difficult customer to deal with. Nazmul Shanto and Mithun have to prove that they are better player than inform quality player Mahmuduallah. First session of day two will define the fate of the match.
Wonder why Bangladesh included Ebadat, Taskin and Hasan Mahmood in the squad? Bangladesh desperately missed a second genuine pacer already on day one.
BDST: 1703 HRS, FEB 11, 2021
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