NORTH SOUND, Bangladesh: Bangladesh lost four wickets in the opening session on day three of the first Test against the West Indies, reaching lunch at 115-6, still needing 47 runs to force the hosts to bat again.
Najmul Hossain Shanto lasted around 40 minutes, but Kyle Mayers set him up, and Mominul Haque followed up with a fantastic performance. He bowled a slew of outswingers to Najmul before releasing one that went in on the angle and was edged to slip by the southpaw. He had a total of 17 points.
Mominul Haque was similarly located, and his sole boundary came from an inside edge. A similar approaching delivery got the better of him a few minutes later, and he was declared leg-before.
Litton Das hit two fours on the off side with a precise pull shot for a boundary. However, the right-hander was caught at slip after pursuing a short and wide ball.
For more than three hours, Mahmudul Hasan Joy kept his cool. He left balls outside off, dead-batted off-stump deliveries, and played straighter ones to the on the side. But, due to the lack of focus, he threw his bat at one of the outside offs and was grabbed at slip. He made 42 out of 153 balls.
Shakib Al Hasan, the captain, was unbeaten with five, and Nurul Hasan had two.
On Friday, Bangladesh was 50-2 after defeating the West Indies for 265 in their first innings.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite anchored the home side’s effort with a 400-minute knock of 94, supported by 63 from vice-captain Jermaine Blackwood, who took a lesson from his captain’s playbook by bowling the slowest half-century of his 16 Test half-centuries.
Brathwaite’s dismissal began the Bangladeshis’ finest phase of play, with the home side losing their last seven wickets for 68 runs after being swamped for 103 just after lunch on day one.
