Bangladesh Trail 40 for 2 (Alzarri 1-2, Seales 1-15) West Indies 450 for 9 (Greaves 115, Louis 97, Athanaze 90, Roach 47, Hasan 3-87) by 410 runs
Greaves’ unbeaten 115 vindicated his form in the Super50, where he hit three consecutive centuries earlier this month. He put in a patient effort, hitting only four boundaries during his 206-ball stay. It was the perfect follow-up to the 90s that Alick Athanaze and Mikyle Louis marked from day one to lay the foundations.
The West Indies said Bangladesh had to play for a maximum time of one hour and 45 minutes. But they had no respite from the four-man West Indian attack. Zakir Hasan fell for 15 after underperforming a Jayden Seales delivery on his stumps. The left-hander hit three fours during his short stay, all off Seales, but was unlucky with the ball skimming leg stump. Mahmudul Hasan Joy edged Alzarri Joseph for 5 points, soon after being dropped by the same score.
It was a far cry from the start of the day for the visitors, who had started the day in the best possible way by taking two early wickets.
Mahmud removed Joshua Da Silva with the fifth ball of the morning session, trapped in weight with a delivery that raced into his front pad. This was Mahmud’s first wicket in the match despite some good bowling on the first day. It was also his 24th wicket this year, making him the highest wicket-taker in a calendar year among Bangladesh bowlers.
That number became 25 when Alzarri fell to Mahmud. Zakir produced a superb two-handed catch at gully, reminiscent of the way he opened the Pakistan tour with Abdullah Shafique’s catch at gully in August. If Bangladesh felt they had an opportunity to knock out the West Indies for less than 300 runs, Roach blunted it.
He was the right type of foil for Greaves, who was ready to lead the Bangladesh attack. Greaves handed the strike to Roach occasionally as the pair allowed no more wickets in the first session. There were only two boundaries in those 26 overs as well, but that hardly bothered the home side who needed a recovery.
Greaves began the second session with his third boundary when he pulled Taskin to mid-wicket. He, however, survived a caught chance on 77 without either Taskin or wicketkeeper Jaker Ali (who was replacing Litton Das after the first session) hearing a slight nick. it was just a replay on the big screen that showed what Bangladesh had missed.
Soon after, a Roach single brought up the team’s maiden century partnership for the eighth wicket against Bangladesh. This was followed by a seven-minute rain break, after which Roach hit Mehidy over his head for his first boundary. Mahmud finally removed Roach with a lovely fishing throw, clipping the top of his middle stump. Their 140-run stand was the West Indies’ third highest for the eighth wicket.
Greaves quickly reached his century with his fourth boundary shot, pushing Taijul through the covers. It was potentially his best shot of the innings and the landmark was only his second first-class ton.
West Indies declared the end of their 145th innings, after their tails Seales and Shamar Joseph delivered some meaty blows. This gave the bowlers enough time to get going, which they did successfully.