Tigers stay calm to edge first day

Bangladesh would feel that they could have been in a better position after the first day of the second and series-deciding Test against the West Indies, but a calm approach helped the hosts regain the momentum and post 259 for five at stumps at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

The eighth Bangladesh cricketer to make his debut in Tests this year, opener Shadman Islam led the way by facing the most deliveries by a Bangladesh batsman in his debut innings. The left-hander, who faced 199 balls while scoring 76, surpassed Nazimuddin's 186-ball 78 against Pakistan.

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan remained not out on 55 along with Mahmudullah Riyad on 31 to promise more advancement today as the pair put on 69 runs for the sixth wicket.

The experienced duo played out the last 22.3 overs of the day, displaying great patience. Shakib hit just one boundary in his 113-ball knock and Mahmudullah faced 59 deliveries for his 31 with the help of one four.

Prior to the start of the second Test, skipper Shakib stated that Bangladesh would go in with an attacking mindset, but it came as a surprise that the Tigers' playing eleven was devoid of a specialist pacer for the first time in their Test history as they swapped out Mustafizur Rahman for an eight batsman in the line-up in the form of wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das.

Bangladesh took their spin-heavy strategy to the next level, opting for just the four spinners to take 20 West Indian wickets. Liton was included as a wicketkeeper after Mushfiqur Rahim suffered a thumb injury ahead of the Test, but they also had the option of dropping Mohammad Mithun instead of Mustafizur.

It was a good toss to win as Bangladesh opted to bat on a pitch that had already started to turn a fair bit by the end of the day, but it was Shadman who showed a lot of promise in his maiden Test match.

Apart from his solid defence and watching confidently left deliveries till it reached the keeper's gloves, Shadman also played his drives and pulls with great authority.

Known for his sound technique and temperament in the domestic circuit, Shadman scored his first international runs with a good-looking drive through mid-off against Kemar Roach -- taking care not to hit the ball too hard.

The 23-year-old continued to display his ability with the bat but there were also some loose shots at the other end -- a feature of the Bangladesh batting for the first two sessions yesterday.

After negotiating the first hour safely the hosts lost their first wicket on 42 where Soumya Sarkar went for a loose drive to a flighted Roston Chase off break and only managed to edged it to slip after scoring 19.

Shadman then paired with Mominul Haque and just when they looked set, the latter played a careless pull shot to Roach at the stroke of lunch to get caught at mid-on after scoring 29.

Mohammad Mithun also followed the same path but this time he did manage to add the first fifty-run stand of the innings with Shadman before misjudging a googly from Devendra Bishoo to be bowled for 29.

Shadman then reached his maiden fifty with a sweep for a boundary off Jomel Warrican off his 147th delivery to become the first Bangladesh opener to score a half century after 12 innings.

Looking set for a big one, Shadman's vigil eventually came to an end when he was trapped leg-before by Bishoo for 76 off 199 balls, which included six fours.

The experienced Mushfiqur Rahim, who started his innings eight runs shy of becoming the second Bangladesh batsman to score 4,000 Test runs after Tamim Iqbal, reached the feat with a single off Bishoo.

But he too fell cheaply, bowled in a pretty similar fashion to his previous dismissal, over-balancing against an incoming Sherman Lewis delivery and leaving a gap between his bat and pad to be bowled for 14.