KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC – Sulieman Benn’s fifth Test five-wicket haul crippled Bangladesh as West Indies took a vice grip on the opening Test at Arnos Vale here yesterday.
The six-foot, eight-inch left-arm spinner claimed five for 39 as Bangladesh were shot out for a paltry 182 in response to the West Indies first innings of 484 for seven declared.
He was supported by part-time off-spinner Jermaine Blackwood who finished with two for 14, playing in only his second Test.
Left-hander Mominul Haque top scored with 51, captain Mushfiqur Rahim propped up the lower order with an unbeaten 48 while opener Shamsur Rahman chipped in with 35.
Earlier, veteran left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul was left stranded short of his 30th Test century as West Indies declared their innings half-way through the first session.
Chanderpaul, resuming on 51, was left unbeaten on 85 as West Indies, resuming on 407 for three, went for quick runs with the declaration in mind.
Opener Kraigg Brathwaite, not out on 205 overnight, finally ended his marathon innings on 212, when he was caught square on the onside by Mominul off debutant left-arm spinner Taijul Islam who finished with five for 135. All told, the 21-year-old batted for nearly 9-1/4 hours, faced 447 balls and counted 14 fours.
Following his dismissal, wickets fell steadily as West Indies went for quick runs. Blackwood missed a heave at seamer Rubel Hossain and was lbw for ten with the score on 451 for five and captain Denesh Ramdin holed out to mid-wicket for five off Taijul, 18 balls later with just 15 runs added.
Jerome Taylor got off the mark with a sweetly-timed straight six off off-spinner Shuvagata Hom and followed up with a boundary to mid-wicket in the next over off Taijul before holing out to long on for ten.
Chanderpaul, meanwhile, tried to increase his scoring but with his innings gathering no significant pace, he found himself stranded with the innings declaration.
With little over an hour to negotiate before lunch, Bangladesh stumbled to 41 for two at lunch, losing left-handers Tamim Iqbal for one and Imrul Kayes for nine.
West Indies struck as early as the fourth over of the innings when seamer Kemar Roach had opener Tamim taken low down by at second slip by Darren Bravo – one of five for the Trinidadian in the innings.
Bravo became the only the second West Indies player to achieve the feat.
Taylor then prised out Imrul, Bravo taking another low catch at second slip as the batsman chased a wide delivery.
The left-handed Mominul combined with Shamsur to defy West Indies in a 62-run, third wicket stand that helped to repair the early damage sustained in the first session.
Mominul faced 112 balls in 2-1/2 hours at the crease and struck seven fours while Shamsur spent just over the same time at the crease, faced 95 balls and hit five fours.
A short rain break seemed to break Shamsur’s concentration and in the third over on resumption, he prodded forward to Benn and give a straightforward catch to Bravo who snared his third catch.
Mominul held firm until the last ball before tea when he played at a leg-side delivery from fast bowler Shannon Gabriel and brushed a catch through to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin. Mominul reviewed in vain.
On 105 for four at tea, Bangladesh lost Mahmudullah for seven and Nasir Hossain, two, both to Blackwood, before Mushfiqur rallied the innings with a 29-run, seventh wicket stand with Shuvagata Hom who made 16.
Mushfiqur was positive, striking six fours in his 79-ball stay at the crease and Shuvagata followed suit, cracking three fours off 25 balls.
Benn broke the stand, holding onto a gentle return catch as Shuvagata tapped a full toss back at 147 for seven, and the combative Barbadian then took the last three wickets to fall as Bangladesh lost their last four wickets for 35 runs.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES 1st innings
(overnight 407 for three)
C Gayle lbw b Shuvagata Hom 64
K Brathwaite c Mominul Haque b Taijul Islam 212
K Edwards c Mominul Haque b Taijul Islam 10
DM Bravo c Mahmudullah b Taijul Islam 62
S Chanderpaul not out 85
J Blackwood lbw b Rubel Hossain 10
*+D Ramdin c Rubel Hossain b Taijul Islam 5
J Taylor c Shuvagata Hom b Taijul Islam 10
K Roach not out 2
Extras (b5, lb18, nb1) 24
TOTAL (7 wkts decl, 160 overs) 484
Did not bat: S Benn, S Gabriel.
Fall of wickets: 1-116 (Gayle), 2-133 (Edwards), 3-261 (Bravo), 4-422 (Brathwaite), 5-451 (Blackwood), 6-466 (Ramdin), 7-479 (Taylor)
Bowling: Al-Amin Hossain 22-12-43-0, Rubel Hossain 30-1-110-1 (nb1), Mahmudullah 19-0-64-0, Shuvagata Hom 37-6-104-1, Taijul Islam 47-9-135-5, Nasir Hossain 4-1-4-0, Mominul Haque 1-0-1-0.
BANGLADESH 1st innings
Tamim Iqbal c Bravo b Roach 1
Shamsur Rahman c Bravo b Benn 35
Imrul Kayes c Bravo b Taylor 9
Mominul Haque c wkp Ramdin b Gabriel 51
Mahmudullah lbw b Blackwood 7
*+Mushfiqur Rahim not out 48
Nasir Hossain c Benn b Blackwood 2
Shuvagata Hom c & b Benn 16
Taijul Islam c Bravo b Benn 2
Rubel Hossain c wkp Ramdin b Benn 1
Al-Amin Hossain c Bravo b Benn 5
Extras (lb2, w2, nb1) 5
TOTAL (all out, 71.4 overs) 182
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Tamim Iqbal), 2-18 (Imrul Kayes), 3-80 (Shamsur Rahman), 4-105 (Mominul Haque), 5-110 (Mahmudullah), 6-118 (Nasir Hossain), 7-147 (Shuvagata Hom), 8-155 (Taijul Islam), 9-166 (Rubel Hossain), 10-182 (Al-Amin Hossain)
Bowling: Taylor 15-4-46-1 (w2), Roach 13-4-31-1, Gabriel 13-2-50-1, Benn 24.4-8-39-5 (nb1), Blackwood 6-1-14-2.
Position: Bangladesh trail by 302 runs.
Toss: Bangladesh.
Umpires: Marais Erasmus, Richard Illingworth; TV – Steve Davis.
