-Ramdin too scores century
DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC – Shivnarine Chanderpaul equalled his career-best score and Denesh Ramdin hit his third Test hundred, as West Indies flourished on the second day of the opening Test here yesterday.
The veteran left-hander carried his overnight 123 to an unbeaten 203 and was joined in the run feast by Ramdin who was 126 not out when West Indies declared their innings at 527 for four, 20 minutes before the scheduled tea interval at the Shere Bangla Stadium.
Exciting opener Tamim Iqbal then livened up proceedings with a better than run-a-ball 72 as Bangladesh made a daring reply to finish the day on 164 for three, still 363 runs in arrears.
Shahriar Nafees chipped in with a cameo 31 while Naeem Islam steadied the innings late in the day with a calm, unbeaten 27.
Pacer Ravi Rampaul has so far claimed two for 49.
It was the obdurate Chanderpaul who claimed the headlines, however, hardly blinking as he equalled his highest ever Test score with his second Test double hundred. He also stroked an unbeaten 203 against South Africa in Georgetown seven years ago.
Overall, the 38-year-old occupied the crease for a shade over seven-and-a-half hours, facing 372 balls and counting 22 fours.
The right-handed Ramdin, the more aggressive of the two, hit 11 fours and a six in an innings spanning five-and-a-half hours and consuming 236 deliveries.
Together, they put on 296 for the fifth wicket – a series record against Bangladesh – which was just outside of the overall record of 322 set by Brian Lara and Jimmy Adams against Australia 13 years ago.
Resuming the day on 361 for four, West Indies made slow progress against tight bowling, and added just 76 runs in the morning session with Chanderpaul moving past the 150-mark.
Ramdin collected a pair of consecutive boundaries to third man in the second over of the day from seamer Rubel Hossain but they were the only two in the first 12 overs of the morning as the tourists traded mainly in ones and twos.
Unbeaten on 84 at the interval with the Windies on 436 for four, Ramdin nudged his way to three figures just about an hour after the resumption, posting his second hundred of the year following his controversial knock against England in Birmingham last June.
Chanderpaul, meanwhile, continued to trundle along with little fanfare, picking off boundaries when they came his way but hardly forcing the pace. He finally reached his landmark an hour-and-a-half after lunch, when he steered off-spinner Sohag Gazi (3-145) through point for a couple.
Ramdin brightened the session somewhat when cleared the straight boundary with left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan and then followed up with another four down the ground in the same over.
By then, however, the interest in the innings was waning and captain Darren Sammy eventually called time on the action soon afterward.
It proved a good decision as the Windies claimed the early wicket of Junaid Siddique for seven with the score on 25, when the left-hander fended a snorter from Rampaul to Darren Bravo at second slip.
Tamim and Shahriar Nafees then put West Indies on the back foot with a rollicking second wicket stand of 63 off just 47 balls.
The left-handed Tamim hammered ten fours and two sixes off just 71 balls while Shahriar, also a left-hander, cracked seven fours off just 27 balls.
Tamim was severe on fiery fast bowler Tino Best, smashing four fours off the right-armer’s third over which cost 16 and then took two more boundaries off Sammy’s first over which went for 13.
Off-spinner Sunil Narine also came in for rough treatment when Tamim twice cleared the ropes in the bowler’s second over.
The stand was becoming worrying when Shahriar nicked a drive behind with the score on 88 and Bangladesh were further set back when Tamim lobbed a catch to Narine at mid-on off an innocuous delivery from Sammy at 119 for three.
Any thoughts of further inroads were negated, however, as Naeem and Shakib (16 not out) consolidated in an unbroken 44-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES 1st innings
C Gayle c Mahmudullah b Sohag Gazi 24
K Powell b Sohag Gazi 117
D Bravo c Rubel Hossain b Sohag Gazi 14
M Samuels c Sohag Gazi b Shahadat Hossain 16
S Chanderpaul not out 203
+D Ramdin not out 126
Extras (b4, lb13, w2, nb8) 27
TOTAL (4 wkts dec; 144 overs) 527
Did not bat: *D Sammy, V Permaul, S Narine, T Best, R Rampaul.
Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Gayle), 2-74 (Bravo), 3-106 (Samuels), 4-231 (Powell)
Bowling: Sohag Gazi 47-7-145-3, Shahadat Hossain 21-3-85-1 (nb7), Rubel Hossain 18-0-89-0 (w1, n1), Mahmudullah 14-0-45-0, Shakib Al Hasan 34-4-104-0, Naeem Islam 8-1-24-0, Nasir Hossain 1-0-8-0, Tamim Iqbal 1-0-10-0 (w1).
BANGLADESH 1st innings
Tamim Iqbal c Narine b Sammy 72
Junaid Siddique c Bravo b Rampaul 7
Shahriar Nafees c wkp Ramdin b Rampaul 31
Naeem Islam not out 27
Shakib Al Hasan not out 16
Extras (b4, lb4, w1, nb2) 11
TOTAL (3 wkts; 36 overs) 164
To bat: *+Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Sohag Gazi, Shahadat Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain.
Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Junaid Siddique), 2-88 (Shahriar Nafees), 3-119 (Tamim Iqbal)
Bowling: Rampaul 8-0-49-2 (nb1), Best 7-1-31-0 (w1), Sammy 5-0-21-1, Narine 10-3-40-0 (nb1), Permaul 3-2-1-0, Gayle 3-0-14-0.
Position: Bangladesh trail West Indies by 363 runs with seven wickets intact.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: R Illingworth, B Oxenford; TV – Enamul Haque.
