Tigers on top despite late stutter
Despite taking a big lead in the first innings, Bangladesh are still in some discomfort after West Indies managed to dismiss their top three batsman at the end of the third day of the first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram yesterday.
After striking his maiden Test ton the previous day, Mehedi Hasan Miraz was instrumental with his off-spin and bagged four wickets to help bundle out West Indies for 259. Bangladesh in their second innings will resume the fourth day on 47 for three.
The Tigers are now leading by 218 runs with skipper Mominul Haque batting on 31 off fifty balls with the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim not out on 10.
The hosts will likely be looking to bat till tea today and post a big target. It will be a tough ask for the Windies batsmen to negotiate the home spinners with the pitch playing slow and low with some turn as well.
The visitors staged a strong fightback with the ball in the last session of the day's play. Off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall dismissed Tamim Iqbal and Nazmul Hossain Shanto for ducks in the span of three deliveries.
In the second over of the innings Tamim was trapped in front by a Cornwall delivery angling into the stumps and a review confirmed it was going to hit them.
Just a ball later Nazmul handed an edge to slip as the left-hander just hung his bat outside the line of the stumps.
Bangladesh at one stage were two down with just one run on the board but Mominul joined Shadman and showed resilience against some disciplined bowling.
Left-hander Shadman, who batted well for his fifty in the first innings, had to face some hostile short bowling from pacer Shannon Gabriel.
Shadman opened his account after 29 deliveries but eventually fell for the trap off another Gabriel short delivery targeting the rib-cage as the ball touched his gloves and was caught by the wicketkeeper down the leg side.
Star allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, who left the ground after what seemed to be a groin injury, did not take the field yesterday. It is as yet uncertain whether he can come out to bat today after scans showed he had sustained a fresh thigh injury while fielding.
Earlier, Taijul removed overnight batsman Bonner off the first ball of the day.
But Brathwaite along with Kyle Mayers held the ship together and added 55 runs for the fourth wicket. The Windies skipper reached his 20th Test fifty before he was bowled by off-spinner Nayeem Hasan on 76.
Mayers followed him soon after, trapped leg before to Mehedi, but skipper Mominul and the bowlers were unable to build pressure on Windies, who were at one stage 154 for five.
Jermaine Blackwood and Joshua Da Silva kept frustrating the Tigers and added 99 runs for the sixth wicket. But Bangladesh came back strongly and went on to pick the last five West Indies wickets in the span of 23 deliveries conceding just six runs to wrap up the innings for 259.
Blackwood top-scored with 68 and Silva added 42 as Mehedi took four wickets and Nayeem and Taijul got two each to get rid of the Windies lower order.
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