Mehedi Hasan Miraz missed out being the hero as Bangladesh fell short by 17 runs in the second and final Test match against the West Indies at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka Sunday.
Bangladesh witnessed yet another batting collapse in pursuit of 231 and were unable to bag the win that would have brought parity in the two-Test series.
However as it happened, Bangladesh failed to capitalize on the day which started well for them, as the Windies made a clean sweep of the series by 2-0.
The game resumed on the fourth day with the West Indies batting in the second innings on 41 for the loss of three wickets, and Bangladesh achieved their primary ambition of getting the opposition all-out for 117 in the second innings and chase an achievable target.
The chase started aggressively as opener Tamim Iqbal added a 44-ball half-century but the Windies spinners took over the stage and exploited the turn and bounce on the Mirpur wicket.
Off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall led the West Indies bowlers with his four scalps, while left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican and occasional spinner Kraigg Brathwaite picked up three wickets each to seal victory for the visitors.
There was late drama as Miraz fought as the last Bangladesh batsman to take the chase close.
Rahkeem Cornwall was named player of the match AFP
The right-handed batter went to the middle with the home side reeling on 147 for six and counter attacked against the Windies bowlers after Liton Das perished for 22 and Taijul Islam departed for eight.
Miraz with Nayeem Hasan on the other end shifted gear after Brathwaite gave away eight runs as leg-byes before trapping Nayeem in front for a leg before.
With Abu Jayed in as the last man, Miraz hammered Cornwall for a six over mid-wicket and then a reverse-sweep for a boundary off successive deliveries to bring the target down below 20.
However, the effort ended on a sad note as he fell to Warrican as the last Bangladesh batsman, 35 minutes past the schedule close of play, scoring 31 with three boundaries and two over boundaries.
With the dismissal, the Windies tent and the players in the middle went into wild celebration having recorded their first overseas series win since 2017.
Bangladesh lost their first wicket, that of Soumya Sarkar on 13 to break the 59-run opening stand and the walk to and from the dressing room occurred in regular intervals since then.
Tamim fell on 50 and on the stroke of tea, Cornwall got one to jump off a length to Nazmul Hossain Shanto, taking his glove and then his body before dropping to short leg.
Nkrumah Bonner was adjudged player of the series AFP
In the last session the captain Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim put up a brief resistance to set the chase straight but the duo could manage only 23 before Warrican removed Mushfiq from a feather edge through to wicket-keeper Joshua da Silva.
Bangladesh succumbed to 115 for 5 when Mohammad Mithun was caught at leg-gully after hitting a six down the wicket, and it was followed by the dismissal of Mominul on 26 to leave Bangladesh reeling on 147 for 6.
Earlier, Windies resumed the day’s proceedings with overnight batters Nkrumah Bonner and Warrican and four overs into the first session, Bangladesh pacer Abu Jayed removed Warrican to get Bangladesh off to a strong start.
Jayed struck again five overs later and this time removed Kyle Mayers from a leg-before.
Left-arm spinner Taijul joined the party as he struck thrice to remove Jermaine Blackwood, Da Silva and Alzarri Jospeh; the Windies going from 73 for 6 to 114 for 8.
Bonner on 38 fell to Nayeem, who removed Cornwall in the same over to end the innings.
