Sylhet: Amir Jangoo’s second Test century and a maiden fifty on debut from Kevin Wickham dragged West Indies out of deep trouble on the opening day of the second Test against Bangladesh at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, taking the visitors to 235 for 4 when bad light stopped play in the final session.
West Indies, who won the toss and chose to bat, were reeling at 27 for 3 inside nine overs after Bangladesh’s fast bowlers made the most of the overcast morning. Taskin Ahmed struck first, bowling Brandon King for 9 with a full delivery that swung in sharply, and Hasan Mahmud produced the ball of the morning to clean up Kavem Hodge for 1, the ball jagging back to hit the top of middle stump. Taskin then trapped Joshua Da Silva leg-before for 12, and West Indies, leading the series 1-0 after their eight-wicket win in Mirpur, looked set to run through the innings.
Instead, Jangoo and Wickham rebuilt it ball by ball. The pair added 131 runs for the fourth wicket, the stand that turned the day around. Wickham, West Indies’ 349th Test cricketer, looked anything but a debutant, reaching his maiden Test fifty in 145 balls before Hasan Mahmud finally breached his defence for 61. The Barbados batter arrived in form, having scored three consecutive centuries in the West Indies Championship in April and May — 105, 153 and an unbeaten 108.
Jangoo, who walked in at 27 for 3, was the anchor throughout. He brought up his second Test century in the final session with a six off Taijul Islam, and was unbeaten on 111 from 171 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes, when the umpires took the players off for bad light. Justin Greaves, unbeaten on 35 from 62 balls, has added an unbroken 77 with Jangoo for the fifth wicket.
Bangladesh had welcomed back Mushfiqur Rahim from a finger injury and recalled Taskin in place of Shoriful Islam, while West Indies were forced into changes of their own, with John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul ruled out by viral fever. Da Silva was promoted to open, and Wickham came in for his debut. Taskin finished the day with two wickets and Hasan Mahmud with two, but Bangladesh’s spinners, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam, could not make a breakthrough despite long spells.
At tea West Indies were 180 for 4, and the final session belonged almost entirely to Jangoo. With the visitors already holding a 1-0 series lead, a big first-innings total here would leave Bangladesh, who slipped to fifth in the World Test Championship standings after the Mirpur defeat, with a mountain to climb to save the series.
