… Darren Bravo narrowly misses double-century
MIRPUR, Bangladesh (CMC) – West Indies bid for victory in the second Test against Bangladesh hit a snag yesterday, after Darren Bravo set things up, narrowly missing a double-hundred.
Bravo was dismissed for 195 and fellow left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 59, allowing West Indies to declare on 383 for five in their second innings about an hour before tea on the third day at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, setting Bangladesh a highly improbable, if not impossible victory target of 508.
Bravo finished his near 7½-hour innings with 12 fours and five sixes from 297 balls. He added 143 for the fifth wicket either side of lunch with Chanderpaul, whose knock included six fours from 79 balls, after nightwatchman Kemar Roach fell in the first hour.
The visitors however, ran into Tamim Iqbal in a rampant mood. The left-handed opener was unbeaten on 82 and his captain Mushfiqur Rahim was not out on 33, carrying the home team to 164 for three at the close.
West Indies first innings bowling hero Fidel Edwards grabbed an early scalp, when Imrul Kayes was caught at slip for nine in the third over.
Wickets however, did not come thick and fast for West Indies like in the Bangladesh first innings, as Tamim anchored the batting, sharing defiant stands either side of tea with Shahriar Nafees, Raqibul Hasan, and Mushfiqur before stumps were drawn.
Roach felt the weight of Tamim’s bat in his fifth over, when the left-hander inside-edged a drive to deep fine leg for four off the second ball, tucked a short ball into the same place two balls later for another boundary, and finished it off with an upper cut past gully for another four.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy made a breakthrough, when he held a return catch to dismiss Shahriar for 18 to leave Bangladesh 73 for two on the stroke of tea.
After the break, the Windies ran into more resistance, when Raqibul joined Tamim and they put on 51 for the third wicket.
A half-volley from Bishoo was greeted with a crisp extra cover drive for four in the first full over after the break, and the Bangladeshi opener moved on to reach his 50 from 58 balls with a single to mid-wicket off Sammy.
West Indies seemed powerless at times to stop Tamim, as he lofted Marlon Samuels to long-off for four, and roughed up Bishoo, when he twice hit him straight for a four and a six off the last two deliveries of the next over.
Samuels scalped Raqibul for 17 with a catch to slip, leaving Bangladesh 124 for three before Mushfiqur arrived to bat through the remainder of the day with Tamim, adding 40 unbroken for the fourth wicket before the close.
Earlier, Bravo continued merrily from where he left off the previous day and seemed almost unstoppable. His dismissal, caught behind, gave Suhrawadi Shuvo the last of his three wickets for 73 runs from 26.3 overs and prompted the declaration.
After Roach charged down the pitch and was caught at long-off for 12 skying a well-flighted delivery from Suhrawadi, Chanderpaul joined Bravo and they continued batting West Indies into an impregnable position.
Bravo reached 150 in the last over before lunch, when he crunched Suhrawadi through mid-wicket for his 10th four.
After the interval, he got into stride with a six off Nasir Hossain over long-off before he gave Shakib Al Hasan a difficult chance running back at mid-on off Shahadat Hossain on 158.
Batting with the declaration clearly in mind, Chanderpaul too, started to show greater enterprise, reaching his 50 from 70 balls in style with a pull through square leg off Shahadat for his fifth boundary.
Five overs later, Bravo’s fun came to a screeching halt, when he tried to swipe Suhrawadi for another six to reach the 200-run mark, top-edged and gave a catch to Mushfiqur.
The two-Test series is level 0-0, after the badly weather-affected first Test ended in a draw at the Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.

WEST INDIES 1st innings 355 (K. Edwards 121; Shakib Al Hasan 5-63)
BANGLADESH 1st innings 231 (Shakib Al Hasan 73; F. Edwards 5-63)  
WEST INDIES 2nd innings
K. Brathwaite run-out    0
K. Powell c N. Hossain b S. Al Hasan    12
K. Edwards b Shuvo    86
D.M. Bravo c wkp. Rahim b Shuvo    195
K. Roach c Islam b Shuvo    12
S. Chanderpaul not out    59
Extras: (b-6, lb-4, w-5, nb-4)    19
Total: (5 wkts decl’d, 111.3 overs)    383
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-33, 3-184, 4-240, 5-383.
Bowling: Rubel Hossain 12-2-36-0 (nb-2, w-5), Nasir Hossain 25-5-78-0, Shakib Al Hasan 21-1-79-1, Naeem Islam 12-2-38-0, Suhrawadi Shuvo 26.3-3-73-3, Shahadat Hossain 11-0-57-0 (nb-2), Raqibul Hasan 4-0-12-0.
BANGLADESH 2nd innings (target: 508)
T. Iqbal not out    82
I. Kayes c K. Edwards b F. Edwards    9
S. Nafees c and b *Sammy    18
R. Hasan c Sammy b Samuels    17
M. Rahim not out    33
Extras: (b-2, lb-1, nb-2) 5
Total: (3 wkts, 47 overs)    164
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-73, 3-124.
Bowling: Edwards 9-0-38-1 (nb2), Roach 8-2-36-0, Sammy 7-2-11-1, Bishoo 11-3-35-0, Samuels 12-2-41-1.
Position: Bangladesh need 344 more runs to win with seven second innings wickets standing.