Can Tigers overcome half a decade of top-order struggles?

Bangladesh could learn some lessons from their historic win in New Zealand, where the visitors posted 458 runs in their first innings before eventually registering a memorable eight-wicket win.

Before the start of the first of the two-match Test series in Antigua, skipper Shakib Al Hasan mentioned that the Tigers would have to put up a better show with the bat, especially in the first innings, if they wanted to take control of the Test. It was pretty much a confession that Bangladesh's batting was the area of concern in the first innings of a Test match.

But yet another horrible batting display in the first Test on Thursday saw the visitors bundled out for 103 runs in their first innings and immediately be forced onto the back foot as the fear of losing yet another Test match comprehensively came to the fore.

On the other hand, West Indies replied strongly and ended the first day on 95 for two, eyeing a big first-innings lead that would give them full control of the Test match.

Bangladesh's first-innings debacles over the past five years have been something of a feature of the side, with the Tigers bundled out for 150 or below on seven occasions since 2018. Consequently, they lost all those games by big margins.

Since 2018, those first-innings failures have also seen the Tigers lose 19 of the 28 Test matches prior to the first Test against the West Indies. In that time, they have won six and managed to draw three matches.

Of those 28 matches, eight have resulted in innings defeats, which included an innings and 219-run defeat against the West Indies in Antigua in 2018, when the Tigers were bundled out for their lowest ever total of 43.

Interestingly, five of their six wins came at home -- three against Zimbabwe and two against the West Indies. The only away win was against New Zealand earlier this year, when Bangladesh registered a historic win in Mount Maunganui.

Bangladesh could learn some lessons from their historic win in New Zealand, where the visitors posted 458 runs in their first innings before eventually registering a memorable eight-wicket win.

But the fact is that even when the Tigers posted over 300 runs, they have still ended up on the losing side on occasion.

Despite positing 430 runs against the West Indies in the first innings in a Test in Chattogram last year, Bangladesh ended up on the losing side while the latest ten-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka in Mirpur on May came despite the hosts posting 365 runs in their first innings.

Although the Tigers still have the opportunity to stage a turnaround despite posting a paltry 103 in the ongoing Test against the West Indies, Bangladesh's batters will have to come up with something extraordinary in the second innings. Or else the visitors could well end up following in the footsteps of their past failures.