Jangoo's unbeaten century puts West Indies on 235/4 at close on day one of Sylhet Test, Bangladesh under pressure
Bangladesh raised early hopes but ended the first day frustrated in the second and final Test against the West Indies at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Losing the toss and fielding, the hosts had the visitors under pressure early on through their pacers. But Amir Jangoo's responsible unbeaten century gave the West Indies the foundation for a big total.
As in the Mirpur Test, play in Sylhet also had to be called off early because of poor light. In all, 70 overs were bowled on the first day. At the close, the Caribbean side had scored 235 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in their first innings.
Winning the toss and batting first, the visitors fell into early trouble. After the first wicket fell at 13, they were cornered at 27 for 3. Taskin Ahmed struck first, bowling West Indies opener Brandon King (9) with the first ball of the fifth over.
Kavem Hodge, coming to the crease, could not settle either; he was bowled by pacer Hasan Mahmud for 1. In the ninth over, Taskin claimed his second wicket by removing Joshua Da Silva (12). Taskin and Hasan shared the four wickets that fell during the day, two each.
In the face of the batting collapse, Amir Jangoo and debutant batter Kevin Wickham turned the match around with a 131-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Playing his first international Test, Wickham reached his fifty with confident batting.
Hasan Mahmud broke the partnership by bowling Wickham for 61; his 145-ball innings contained 5 fours. After Wickham's departure, Jangoo took the team forward in the company of Justin Greaves for the fifth wicket.
Jangoo reached the second century of his Test career off 149 balls, hitting spinner Taijul Islam for a six. In doing so, he became only the third West Indies keeper-batter to score a Test century on Asian soil. At the close he was unbeaten on 111 off 171 balls with 11 fours and two sixes, while Greaves was unbeaten on 35 off 62 balls at the other end.
The match has also prompted discussion over Bangladesh's bowling attack and team selection. Although Bangladesh usually play three pacers on the Sylhet wicket in recent years, after the defeat in the Mirpur Test they fielded two pacers and three specialist spinners in this match. But while the pacers created opportunities, the spinners were ineffective all day; none of Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nayeem Hasan took a wicket. Losing their advantageous position from the first session, Bangladesh were forced onto the back foot by the close.
