West Indies fought back from a first-innings deficit to crush Bangladesh by eight wickets in the first Test in Mirpur, with Brandon King’s career-best 81 not out sealing a 1-0 series lead.
Main image: DGBN graphic. Photo: Calistemon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Set 170 to win on the fourth day, the visitors got home in 35.1 overs. King struck 10 fours and a six in his 115-ball knock, and John Campbell fell one short of a half-century, bowled by Shoriful Islam for 49 off 55 balls.
Spinners take control
The match was set up by the West Indies spinners. Bangladesh resumed on 79-6, 106 runs ahead, but were bowled out for 142 in 48.4 overs. Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican took 4-63 to follow his first-innings five-wicket haul and was named player of the match.
Captain Roston Chase claimed 5-36, his fifth five-wicket haul in Test cricket, and also held the slip catch that removed Jaker Ali. Nayeem Hasan offered the main resistance, surviving two dropped chances on his way to a maiden Test fifty before he was caught by Joshua Bishop for 52.
Rain, bad light and no panic
The chase was interrupted twice, first by rain for about an hour and then by bad light and lightning for a further 45 minutes. King was dropped on 70 by substitute fielder Ebadot Hossain after the restart, and made Bangladesh pay.
“The guys were determined, even though we didn’t have a good start in the first innings,” Chase said. “We lost the lead, but we were still determined to fight back and try to win the game, and that’s what we did.”
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto admitted his side fell short in “all three departments”, especially in the field.
Why it matters
The win extends an encouraging run for Caribbean cricket, after West Indies pushed India hard in a recent one-day series and shared a 2-2 T20 series draw with the world champions earlier this month. Chase’s side now head to Sylhet for the second Test, starting on 5 November, with a series win and a climb up the rankings in their sights.
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