It was a slow-moving first day of the first Test between West Indies and Bangladesh. Mikyle Louis and Alick Athanaze got 90s as they revived West Indies after they lost early wickets.
With Najmul Hossain Shanto ruled out due to injury, stand-in captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz won the toss and opted to bowl first as he wanted the Bangladesh pacers to exploit some early moisture in the pitch. However, the West Indies openers saw through the first hour. While the scoring rate wasn’t great, they negotiated the movement with the new ball well.
It was Taskin Ahmed who struck first for Bangladesh. He was rewarded for some consistent bowling as he pinned Kraigg Brathwaite LBW. The West Indies captain was out for just 4 which came off 38 balls. Taskin got rid of Keacy Carty in his following over, as the latter got a leading edge to mid-on and was out for a duck.
Kavem Hodge walked in and stitched a 59-run stand with Mikyle Louis for the third wicket. The stand was broken through a runout as Hodge went for a risky second as Taijul Islam sent in a flat throw from a deep square leg. At 84/3, Bangladesh did have the upper hand.
That’s when Louis and Alick Athanaze joined hands. Louis was beaten a few times early in his innings but he survived the tricky period. He batted solidly after the first session and looked set for a big score. The scoring was slow in the first couple of sessions as West Indies reached 116/3 in 54 overs at Tea.
Louis had done the bulk of the scoring as he was unbeaten on 71 at that stage. However, in the third session, Athanaze started to score freely. He got boundaries regularly as the run-scoring picked up.
Mikyle Louis, Alick Athanaze fall in the 90s as West Indies end the day on 250/5
Just when it looked like the two batters would get through to their respective centuries, Bangladesh struck twice before the second new ball. New Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz broke the 140-run stand in the 75th over. The off-spinner had Louis edging to slip as the West Indies opener was out for 97. Taijul got Athanaze caught behind a couple of overs later and Athanaze was dismissed for 90.
Bangladesh took the second new ball but couldn’t break through. Joshua Da Silva and Justin Greaves got through the tricky phase nicely before bad light forced early stumps. Da Silva is unbeaten on 14 while Greaves is batting on 11 as West Indies reached 250.
The first session on day two is going to be crucial for Bangladesh with the second new ball just four overs old. They will be looking to run through the West Indies lower order. It has been a bit of a problem for Bangladesh as they struggled to get through the lower order against India and South Africa in the last couple of series. With the last two recognized batters for West Indies, they will be looking to go past around the 350-run mark.
BRIEF SCORES: West Indies 250/5 (Mikyle Louis 97, Alick Athanaze 90, Taskin Ahmed 2/46, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 1/47, Taijul Islam 1/67) vs Bangladesh.
