Bangladesh face a tough battle to save the series-deciding second and final Test against the West Indies despite Tamim Iqbal’s bold unbeaten 82.
The hosts, chasing an improbable target of 508, were 164 for three in their second-innings at stumps, still needing 344 to win. Captain Mushfiqur Rahim was unbeaten on 33.
Earlier, West Indies continued their dominance as Darren Bravo missed out on a double-hundred, making a career-best 195, smashing five sixes and 12 fours in the process.
The 22-year-old fell in the afternoon session, top-edging a delivery from debutant left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo to wicket-keeper Rahim. He had hit a six off the previous ball before going for another big shot in a bid to complete his double-century. He added 143 for the fifth wicket with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who remained unbeaten on 59 with six fours. The tourists declared their innings closed on 383 for five.
West Indies coach Ottis Gibson was delighted with his team’s show.
“It’s nice to be in control and we’re happy with the position we’re in,” he said. “But we’ll have to be watchful as Tamim is still batting and he’s a quality player. It’ll be a world record. If Bangladesh make 500 runs to win they’ll deserve it. If a team breaks the world record to win a Test then they deserve that win.”
Bangladesh batsman Naeem Islam was still hopeful for an improbable win
“On the final day, we’ll try to bat session by session,” he said. “If we can do that we can win the match. It depends a lot on how we handle the first session. The way the pitch is behaving, it seems it’s possible to bat comfortably. We know we’ll have to break the world record to win this match and we’ll try to do that.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2011.
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