The visiting Bangladesh cricket team will be looking to crash the West Indies’ 500th Test match party as the two sides take on each other in the second and final Test starting from today at the Beausejour Stadium in Gros Islet, St. Lucia.
Following a convincing 10-wicket victory in the first Test at St. Vincent, the hosts are eyeing another polished display while the visitors will be desperate to end their 38-day Caribbean tour on a high.
Having been swept aside 3-0 in the one-day internationals before poor weather forced the abandonment of the solitary Twenty20 International, Bangladesh went down to a humiliating defeat in the first Test despite an improved batting performance in the second innings.
Asked to bat first by Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim which was later criticised in many quarters, the hosts racked up 484-7 declared, thanks in large part to 212 from opener Kraigg Brathwaite and an obdurate 85 from Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
In reply, Bangladesh struggled to 182 all out as spinner Sulieman Benn took five wickets, and they were subsequently asked to follow-on.
Second time around, the away side did much better as they reached 314 all out, led by 116 from Mushfiq, who was unbeaten on 48 in the first innings. This was the 13th time Bangladesh were made to follow on in Tests but only the third time they scored enough runs in the second innings to make the opposition bat and avoid an innings defeat.
That left West Indies just 13 runs to win, a target they passed without any hiccups.
However, host captain Denesh Ramdin said he was concerned by his side’s poor catching, so that is something they will be looking to improve in this game.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh will need to replicate the fight they showed in the second innings and try to avoid the batting collapses that have plagued them recently.
The visitors went into the first Test with eight batsmen and three bowlers but the decision backfired as the hosts posted a healthy first innings total. According to sources, Bangladesh will be heading into the final Test with four bowlers and seven batsmen.
Imrul Kayes, who has a skin infection and was ruled out of the remainder of the tour, will be replaced by Anamul Haque while the extra bowler, either pacer Shafiul Islam or Robiul Islam, is likely to come in to the side in place of Shuvagata Hom who had a forgettable debut after making 16 and nought. Pace bowler Al Amin Hossain, whose action was called into question after the conclusion of the first Test, will also feature.
Going into the final Test, Bangladesh received a boost as Mushfiq improved eight spots to 30th in the International Cricket Council rankings for Test batsmen. He became the highest-ranked Bangladesh batsman, followed by Tamim Iqbal in 44th place.
The track at St. Lucia would turn out to be a good deck for batting. However, with Dukes being used in the West Indies these days, the quicker bowlers may generate a bit of swing in the air. Spinners may come into play later on in the Test match. Plenty of showers are expected in the eastern Caribbean island throughout this game, much like the first Test at St. Vincent which was also blighted by rain.
