Shadman, Shakib give Bangladesh solid start
Debutant opener Shadman Islam and skipper Shakib Al Hasan hit a fifty each to put Bangladesh into a comfortable position in the second Test against the West Indies in Dhaka on Friday. Shadman hit 76 runs while Shakib remained unbeaten on 55 as Bangladesh reached 259-5 at stumps on the first day after opting to bat first at the Shere-Bangla National Stadium.
Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo picked up two wickets for 69 runs for the West Indies, but the visitors lacked a cutting edge on the first-day track. Shadman anchored the innings with his 199-run ball knock before Shakib and Mahmudullah Riyad put Bangladesh in control with an unbroken 69-run sixthwicket partnership.
Shadman, who played more balls than any other debutant Bangladeshi opener, shared three useful partnerships of 42, 45 and 64 with Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque and Mohammad Mithun respectively.
Roston Chase got the West Indies’ first breakthrough when he removed opener Soumya, who made 19 before edging to Shai Hope at first slip. Kemar Roach dismissed Mominul Haque (29) on the stroke of lunch break before Mithun was bowled by Bishoo for the same score. Shadman brought up his 50 off 147 balls by sweeping leftarm spinner Jomel Warrican through square leg for a boundary, and was in line to become only the fourth Bangladeshi to score a century on debut.
But Bishoo dashed his hopes by trapping him leg-before wicket in the post-lunch session. Right-arm pacer Sherman Lewis bowled Mushfiqur Rahim for 14.