Bangladesh lost Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes in pursuit of West Indies’ 484 for 7 declared at lunch on the third day. Shamsur Rahman and Mominul Haque ensured it remained on two wickets, for 41 runs, when lunch was taken after an extended morning session, though Bangladesh’s tendency to fish outside off stump contributed to a few hairy moments.
Kemar Roach took Tamim’s wicket in the fourth over before his new-ball partner Jerome Taylor picked out Imrul Kayes in the seventh over. Darren Bravo, at second slip, was just as much party to those wickets by snaring two very good catches diving forward and Bangladesh slipped to 18 for 2.
West Indies earlier declared their first innings on 484 for 7, with more than an hour left to work on the Bangladesh batting before lunch on the third day. The hosts’ pursuit for quick runs allowed left-arm spinner Taijul Islam to cash in with a five-wicket haul on Test debut.
They picked up 77 runs in the 17 overs, with Kraigg Brathwaite being the first casualty for 212 off 447 balls. He was caught at short fine leg as he tried to slog sweep Taijul. He struck 14 fours, ending the slowest double-century, in terms of strike-rate and boundaries hit, in the last five years.
Denesh Ramdin and Jerome Taylor’s attempts to up the ante backfired as well to hand high catches to midwicket and long-on respectively.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul remained unbeaten on 85 off 226 balls with six boundaries. He seemed a lot more keen on collecting the singles after his captain had said West Indies could have batted quicker on the second day. This was the 34th time he has not been dismissed in 93 Test innings.