Bangladesh’s spinners gave them control of the second and final Test against the West Indies on Friday, despite a resilient 95 from Travis Dowlin before the home team were dismissed for 237 in their first innings.
The Tigers then confidently negotiated 10 overs in about an hour to reach 35 for one in reply, with Tamim Iqbal not out on 14 and Enamul Haque Jr not out on 5 at the close on the opening day at the Queen’s Park Stadium Complex.
Bangladesh suffered an early setback when opener Imrul Kayes was caught behind off Darren Sammy for 14.
PHOTO: AP
Earlier, the Tigers’ spin bowling triumvirate of Mahamudullah, Enamul and stand-in captain Shakib Al Hasan extracted appreciable bounce and turn from the pitch, tormenting the West Indies’ batsmen after the visitors chose to field.
Mahmudullah captured three wickets for 44 runs from 13 overs with his off-spin, Shakib took three for 59 from 21.1 overs and fellow left-arm spinner Enamul, who replaced injured captain and fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza, supported with three for 62 from 24 overs.
Before lunch, Mahmudullah grabbed two wickets in his first and only over to leave the West Indies wobbling on 107 for three.
Mahmudullah, playing in only his second Test, pulled things back for Bangladesh after the West Indies practically dominated the first hour with an opening stand of 60 between Dale Richards and Omar Phillips.
Mahmudullah removed Richards for 69 and Ryan Hinds for 2 — both caught and bowled — in the space of three balls in the penultimate over before the interval to leave the West Indies wobbling.
After play started half an hour later than scheduled because of damp spots on the pitch from rain water that seeped through the covers, Shakib made the breakthrough when Phillips was caught at deep mid-wicket for 23.
Mahmudullah changed the course of the innings when he dismissed Richards, after the batsman flat-batted his second ball for the last of his two sixes, and two balls later Hinds, who replaced left-arm spinner Nikita Miller in the West Indies lineup.
After lunch, a near hour-long stoppage for rain failed to slow Bangladesh down, as the West Indies slumped to 178 for seven.
Mahmudullah trapped West Indies captain Floyd Reifer leg before wicket for 1 in the third over after the interval, before rain stalled Bangladesh another half an hour.
Shakib had Dave Bernard Jr caught at backward point for 17 after putting on a valuable 43 with Dowlin for the fifth wicket.
This triggered a slide that saw Bangladesh collect three wickets for three runs in the space of 11 balls, before Dowlin inched to his half-century when he drove his 94th delivery from Shakib through extra cover for two.
Bangladesh then claimed the last three West Indies’ wickets for 18 in 34 balls, with Shakib ending the innings when he had Dowlin caught at extra-cover. The 32-year-old Dowlin batted for close to three-and-three-quarter hours to smote seven fours and one six from 162 balls.
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