Windies made to toil again

KINGSTON: Bangladesh’s defiant lower order batsmen frustrated the West Indies for the second straight Test  in rallying to a satisfying first-day total of 263 for nine at Sabina Park yesterday. The home team were smiling just after tea when the Bangladeshis, who chose to bat after winning the toss, were reduced to 152 for seven. But First Test century-makers Khaled Mashud (39) and Mohammad Rafique (30) again led a spirited fightback. No 10 bat Tapash Baisya hit an unbeaten 34 to complete West Indian misery  on another true batting surface. Brian Lara, who said he would resign should his team fail to beat bottom-ranked Bangladesh, would have been the more concerned skipper after stumps.

In the drawn series opener in St Lucia, Bangladesh also got their best efforts from their lower order. Here again, it proved the same after Rajin Saleh’s topscore of 47 from No 4. Offspinner Omari Banks, back after a seven-month layoff  from a back injury, led the West Indies with a career-best four for 80 off 29 overs. Fast bowlers Pedro Collins (two for 54), Fidel Edwards (two for 66) and Tino Best (one for 50) completed the wicket-taking. The Caribbean side began emphatically with Pedro Collins taking a wicket with the first ball of the test, as he did a week ago in St Lucia.  Again, the batsman was Hannan Sarkar.  Again, he played no stroke to an inswinger and was given out leg before wicket by umpire Jeremy Lloyds. It was the third time in four Tests between the teams that Sarkar has fallen for a duck to Collins from the first ball of the match.

Collins became the first bowler in Test history to do it three times, surpassing England’s Geoff Arnold, New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee and India’s Kapil Dev, who achieved the feat twice. Captain Habibul Bashar survived two dismissals off Collins no-balls to pass 2,000 runs in his 30th test. But his luck ran out when Collins finally made a legitimate delivery count as the  skipper spooned an ugly pull stroke for a skied catch to gully while on 20 at 37 for two. Collins’ brother Fidel Edwards provided another breakthrough for the home team when opener Javed Omar edged a cut to Jacobs at 54 for three. Saleh and Mohammad Ashraful took lunch at 73 for three but wickets continued to fall at regular intervals after the break.  Ashraful (16) clipped a catch to midwicket off Banks.

When Manjural Islam Rana snicked to wicketkeeper Jacobs off  Best, Bangladesh was limping at 97 for five. But Mushfiqur Rahman and Saleh fashioned a restorative stand of 48 for the sixth wicket to stall the West Indians. Banks finally broke through to restore his team’s  advantage. Rahman hit two fours in 22 off 59 balls before he was neatly stumped by Jacobs on the stroke of tea. When Saleh pushed back a return catch to Banks just after the break, the West Indies sensed it would be batting by the end of the day. But again, it could not get past the efficient Bangladesh Nos. 8, 9, 10 and 11. Mashud, who hit 103 not out on Tuesday to force the First Test draw in St Lucia, played the anchor role in a stand of 40 with the aggressive Rafique.

Rafique, following 113 in the first innings of the First Test, smacked five boundaries before he provided Banks with his fourth wicket. The left-hander lofted a catch to mid-off after scoring 30 off 42 balls. Mashud and Baisya continued the defiance by adding 46 for the ninth wicket until the second new ball brought reward. Edwards claimed Mashud to a sliced catch to point after the wicketkeeper stroked four fours in 81 balls in two hours.  The last pair of Baisya and Tareq Aziz Khan completed another uplifting day for Bangladesh by putting on another 26 runs without being separated. The frustration was complete when first slip Chris Gayle floored Baisya’s regulation edge off Best two overs before the  end. (AP)