Windies register innings win over Bangladesh
antigua — Shannon Gabriel completed his third five-wicket haul in five innings as the West Indies completed a crushing victory over Bangladesh by an innings and 219 runs just before lunch on the third day of the first Test in Antigua on Friday.
Wicketless in the demolition of the tourists for their lowest Test in- nings score, 43, on the opening morning, Gabriel started the wreck- ing job in the second innings with four wickets on the fourth evening.
He then bowled Kamrul Islam when play resumed to finish with five for 77 as the Bangladeshis were dismissed for 144 to hand the home side their largest innings victory ever in a Test in the Caribbean.
However the morning’s honours at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium went to Nurul Islam.
The Bangladesh wicketkeeperbatsman blazed his way to 64, a maiden Test half-century in just his second match, and holding up the
West Indies in the push for a victory that looked likely to be completed in a matter of minutes from the start of play. Nurul reached his fifty
off just 36 balls, the fastest-ever by a Bangladesh player in a Test away from home, and actually belted the otherwise dangerous Gabriel out of
the attack by taking 16 runs off the fast bowler’s 12th over. It took Miguel Cummins to end the innings and the match with the lunch interval approaching as he had Nurul caught and bowled before scattering the stumps of Rubel Hossain in the next over to finally complete the triumph that looked a mere formality at the start of the day.
For Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan, it was a tough return to the helm in the traditional format of the game. “It is not something we are familiar with but we have to spend the next five days getting ready for a similar situation when the next Test begins.”
That second and final Test of the brief series begins July 12 in Kingston, Jamaica where another green, fast bowler-friendly track is expected to be prepared in keeping with the trend of playing surfaces starting with the drawn three-Test series against Sri Lanka. —