Top-order finds better response but leaves task unfinished
We would have liked to bowl first as well. I think this is a better wicket for batting compared to Antigua. There is pace and bounce in this wicket, but that is true bounce.
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan had hoped his side would start well in the first two hours in St Lucia and their approach in the first session, which ended with the Tigers at 77 for two, certainly showed that the skipper's demand has been met by the struggling top-order although the visitors will rue Tamim Iqbal's dismissal, late in the first session. In fact, all four top-order batters to be dismissed in the day looked good during their stay at the wicket but left job unfinished.
It was Tamim who paved the way for a good reply with the bat after disasters in both innings in Antigua at the top of the order. There was steep bounce on offer early with rising deliveries catching batters around shoulder height but both Tamim and Mahmudul Hasan Joy showed good balance and posture after being sent in to bat by the hosts.
As Shakib had said a day before, they did not expect a lot of sideways movement and Tamim and Joy did well not to lose their approach against the new ball. Tamim in particular was the aggressor while Joy looked solid.
Kemar Roach thought he had his 250th wicket in the seventh over when he trapped Joy in front of the stumps twice. Twice the right-hander showed good judgement and reviewed to escape Roach's clutches but Joy would depart bowled by an in-dipper from debutant Anderson Phillip, as the ball squeezed past his drive.
Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo had said that his side had focused on leaving deliveries before the second Test. Tamim was definitely in his zone, leaving deliveries quite well while punishing anything slightly too full or too short and wide. He drove frequently, dealing in boundaries while getting on top of short deliveries.
Newly-appointed skipper Shakib Al Hasan had been straightforward in the criticism of the batters and former skipper Mominul Haque had to make way for Anamul Haque Bijoy while Najmul Hossain Shanto was retained.
Shanto showed better application with the ball not doing much off the seam and grinded through while Tamim was in his element. Having raced to a 66-ball 46 with nine fours and driving so well on the up, Tamim had a momentary lapse of concentration as he went for a drive off Alzarri Joseph but failed to check his shot when the ball gained on him.
Tamim's chipped drive fell comfortable to Jermaine Blackwood at point as Tigers lost their second wicket in the 23rd over.
And just when the wicket looked like it was it slowing down, Phillip and Kyle Mayers found the right reply.
Shanto and Anamul took the score past 100 but Anamul, who returned to the Test team after more than seven years, departed to Phillip, unable to counter a delivery that seamed back to catch him in front of his stumps.
Anamul had looked solid before that dismissal during a 33-ball 23. Shanto departed soon after to another scrambled seam delivery, this time from Myers which caught him in front. He reviewed the leg-before just like Anamul but, although review was retained, Shanto was out for 26.
From Tamim to Shanto, the top-order left their task unfinished in not getting a big score and the disappointed look on Tamim's face from the dressing room after Shanto's dismissal, told the story. Bangladesh reached 138 for six in the 37 overs in the second session with Liton Das and Mehedi Hasan Miraz at the wicket.