Cricket: A Bravo effort by the West Indies

Tourists lead by 331 runs as Bangladesh continue to struggle in 2nd Test.

DHAKA:

Darren Bravo cracked his maiden Test century to put the West Indies in command on the third day of the series-deciding second and final Test against Bangladesh.

The left-hander was unbeaten on 100 after Kirk Edwards hit a solid 86 as the West Indies reached 207 for three in their second-innings at stumps for an overall lead of 331 runs. Bravo completed his century off the last ball of the day when he cut debutant left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo for two runs. He has so far hit two sixes and seven fours in his 165-ball knock.

The tourists, leading by 124 runs on the first-innings, consolidated their position as Bravo and Edwards put on 151 for the third wicket after openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Keiran Powell had fallen cheaply. Edwards looked set to score his second hundred of the Test when he fell in the closing overs of the day, bowled by Shuvo.

Bangladesh were earlier bowled out for 231 in their first-innings in reply to the West Indies’ 355, losing their last three wickets for 27 runs when play resumed in the morning.

Bravo elated

Bravo was delighted at scoring his maiden Test ton.

“I’m very happy with my effort,” he said. “I just tried to play the right shots and waited for the loose balls to put them away. There wasn’t too much turn. Maybe one or two balls did turn, but the ball came on well onto the bat. I don’t see too much deterioration in the wicket. We’ll go out there on the fourth day and put on a big target for Bangladesh to chase.”

‘We’re not controlling the game’

Bangladesh coach Stuart Law said his team faced a tough fight to save the game.

“At the moment it’s not going the way we wanted it to,” said Law. “A mediocre batting performance in the first-innings ruined our plans. We’re not controlling the game. It’s going to take a lot of hard work to come back into the match. “We need to find a way to score runs, we need to find a way to stay a long time at the crease.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2011.