Bangladesh's spinners grabbed two quick wickets with the second new ball to leave the second and final Test against the West Indies evenly poised after the opening day on Saturday. The West Indies were strongly placed at 226-3 before reaching 253-5 in their first innings at stumps, with Kirk Edwards unbeaten on an impressive 71 and Marlon Samuels 16 not out.
Off-spinner Nasir Hossain, who shared the new ball, struck a vital blow when he had Shivnarine Chanderpaul (18) caught behind before left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan bowled night-watchman Kemar Roach for six. The West Indies looked set to make the most of winning the toss on a good pitch as they batted steadily for more than two sessions, with Kieran Powell (72) and teenager Kraigg Brathwaite (50) scoring maiden Test half-centuries.
Powell, playing only his second Test, put on 100 runs for the opening wicket with Brathwaite and 55 for the second wicket with Edwards before being bowled by debutant left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo. Powell cracked 10 fours in his 150-ball knock.
Edwards continued to defy the Bangladeshi attack and reached his half-century in the last session when he swept Shuvo for four and then hit Nasir over long-on for the first six of the match. Edwards, who scored a century on Test debut against India at home in July, has so far hit one six and eight fours in his 168-ball knock. Bangladesh struggled for success on a first-day track which had little in it for the bowlers, before taking three wickets in the closing session, with Nasir taking two and Shakib one.
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Scoreboard West Indies 1st innings:
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K. Brathwaite c Kayes b Rubel 50
K. Powell b Shuvo 72
K. Edwards not out 71
D. Bravo lbw b Nasir 12
S. Chanderpaul c Rahim b Nasir 18
K. Roach b Shakib 6
M. Samuels not out 16
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Extras: (b2, lb3, nb1, w2) 8
Total: (for 5 wkts; 90 overs) 253
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Fall of wickets: 1-100, 2-155, 3-180, 4-226, 5-232.
Bowling: Shahadat 16-1-76-0 (nb1), Rubel 16-1-50-1 (w2), Shakib 23-10-31-1, Nasir 17-4-31-2, Shuvo 14-2-46-1, Naeem 4-0-14-0.
Toss: West Indies
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) and Nigel Llong (ENG)
TV umpire: Nadir Shah (BAN)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM).