West Indies sealed the two-match Test series 1-0 after the second Test in Sylhet ended in a draw on Monday, Bangladesh finishing on 184 for 4 in pursuit of 369 when bad light ended the final day.
Resuming on 345 for 3, West Indies batted for an hour on the final morning, adding 53 runs before declaring on 398 for 6. Overnight centurion Kavem Hodge added just two runs before he was caught at fine leg off Nayeem Hasan for 142, while Justin Greaves fell lbw to Mehidy Hasan Miraz for nine. Joshua Bishop clattered an unbeaten 20 off 11 balls and Amir Jangoo finished on 39 not out. Nayeem took two for 72, Mehidy two for 85 and Taijul Islam two for 118.
Bangladesh’s chase began badly. Jomel Warrican removed Tanzid Hasan for 21 and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto for 14 before lunch, leaving the hosts on 49 for 2. Towhid Hridoy and Mushfiqur Rahim then steadied the innings with a 122-run stand for the third wicket, taking Bangladesh to 162 for 2 at tea with Hridoy unbeaten on 82 and Mushfiqur on 40.
The final session brought the two wickets West Indies needed. Warrican bowled Hridoy behind his legs for 82, and Shamar Joseph bowled Mushfiqur for 49. Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz saw out the remaining overs as Bangladesh closed on 184 for 4 from 59 overs, still 185 short, when bad light ended play.
Hridoy’s 82 took his match aggregate to 324 runs, the most by a Bangladesh batter in a single Test. He passed Mominul Haque’s previous mark of 281, set against Sri Lanka in Chattogram in 2018, and became the first Bangladeshi to score 300 or more runs in a Test match. His unbeaten 242 in the first innings had already broken Mushfiqur’s record for the highest individual Test score by a Bangladesh batter.
Mushfiqur had a milestone of his own: he began the match on 6,957 Test runs, and a single shortly after lunch took him past 7,000 — the first Bangladesh batter to reach the mark.
The draw was a fair reflection of a Test dominated by the bat. West Indies made 356 in the first innings, built on Amir Jangoo’s 133 and Kevin Wickham’s 61, before Hasan Mahmud’s career-best six for 90 bowled them out. Hridoy’s 242 not out then carried Bangladesh from 184 for 7 to 386 and a 30-run lead, with Warrican taking four for 104.
West Indies won the first Test in Mirpur by eight wickets, so the 1-0 result gives them the series. Bangladesh’s focus now shifts to South Africa, where the first Test begins in Johannesburg on November 15.
Related: “Towhid Hridoy’s Unbeaten 242 Powers Bangladesh to 30-Run Lead Over West Indies in Sylhet” ; “Hodge’s Career-Best 140* Puts West Indies 315 Ahead as Bangladesh Face a Record Chase in Sylhet“
