Bangladesh 365 for 8 (Abul 100*, Mahmudullah 72*, Nasir 52, Edwards 5-81) v West Indies
|
West Indies bulldozed through the first eight Bangladesh wickets on a flat, low and slow Khulna pitch. In came debutant Abul Hasan,
all of 20, and proceeded to do something that had been done only once
before in 2059 previous Tests dating back to 1877, by Reggie Duff over a
century ago in 1902. Abul, who goes around as a fast bowler, became
only the second Test debutant to make a hundred at No. 10. Abul's
incredible innings, and his record unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 172
with Mahmudullah, himself on 72, rescued Bangladesh from 193 for 8, and
left honours even on day one.
The cluelessness of being a debutant No. 10, if any, was restricted to
the first four deliveries of Abul's knock, and a few scattered nervy
moments against the second new ball as he approached his hundred.
Barring those, the innings was a fresh breeze of audacious boundaries,
and sensible defending, which blew the spotlight away from the
continuing inadequacies of the specialist Bangladesh batsmen.
He was beaten four successive times at the start by Fidel Edwards,
who had come in for the injured Ravi Rampaul to take five wickets
before being upstaged by Abul. The fifth delivery was timed neatly down
the ground for three runs, and Abul was a changed man thereafter.
Fast bowlers were pulled and driven with panache, a medium-pacer was
charged and lofted, spinners were slog-swept and cut, and all of them
were defended against solidly. He even ensured a part-timer was taken
for runs when he hit Marlon Samuels for three fours in an over. Soon, he
was dancing out and heaving Darren Sammy for six over long-off to go
past fifty.
Smart stats |
It would be an understatement to say the assault left West Indies
stunned. Coming towards the end of a hard toil on an unresponsive pitch,
it gave them no time to regroup. Every delivery and everyone went for
runs. Sammy was caught between going for the remaining two wickets and
setting fields to plug the torrent of runs. Abul eventually forced him
to set defensive fields.
It was a largely chanceless innings; he was put down once, on 42, at
forward short leg off Veerasammy Permaul, who made three attempts at the
catch but could not hold on. The second new ball was taken when Abul
was on 84. He responded by a couple of blind charges at Edwards' short
deliveries, and was fortunate not to get hit.
Abul's recovery against Edwards showed the kind of touch he was in. He
coolly made room to a short of a length delivery and punched it past
point for four. Some more tense moments against Edwards followed, but
Abul broke into a roar after a tuck to leg for two off Sunil Narine,
whose returns for this series now stand at 3 for 295.
Mahmudullah's contribution was not far behind. He let the man of the day
go about his business, and motored along without fuss. He didn't try to
match Abul for spectacle, although he did come close in terms of
strokeplay, the highlight being a charge-and-whip off Narine which raced
through square leg, and a short-arm controlled pull through midwicket
off Edwards.
The ninth-wicket partnership was already Bangladesh's highest, and also the fourth-highest ever
in Tests. Not even the staunchest Bangladesh supporters who had filled
the stands in Khulna could have hoped for a better opening day's play at
Test cricket's latest, and 107th venue, especially after the struggles
of the specialist batsmen.
In each of the first two sessions, Bangladesh were jolted early. In each
session, they fought back. And in each session, with depressing
familiarity, they also gave away whatever ground they had regained. The
result was that despite Bangladesh's best batsman, Tamim Iqbal, batting
nearly two hours, and Nasir Hossain counter-attacking with a fifty, it
was West Indies who dominated.
In Tamim's defence, he had at least fallen trying to preserve his wicket
close to lunch. Nasir's brain fade came moments before tea, when he
charged at Permaul and lofted him straight to mid-on. Till then, Nasir
had batted with the confidence he had shown in Mirpur against the West
Indies spinners.
After Edwards had dismissed Shakib Al Hasan and Naeem Islam in
successive overs after lunch, Nasir and Mushfiqur Rahim put on 87 for
the sixth wicket in quick time. From 98 for 5 to 185 for 5 had been a
swift mini-recovery, but even as the crowd's hopes rose and tea
beckoned, Nasir blew it.
Proceedings had been similar in the morning. West Indies started with the tactic that had won them the Mirpur Test
- a barrage of short balls - but soon realised the pitch had hardly any
life for the gambit to sustain for long. Sammy focussed on the
old-fashioned and unglamorous strategy of sticking to one line outside
off stump, varied his angle, and reaped the rewards. He broke a growing
second-wicket stand by removing Shahriar Nafees, and then took the big
wicket of Tamim.
Sammy's strikes won West Indies a session that seemed to be slipping
away from them. Tamim and Nafees had several close moments against the
short ball, with a few fends carrying over the infield, but soon settled
down to play the pull effectively.
Edwards, moving the old ball at pace, was in business early in all the three sessions but no one had reckoned for Abul.
Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Abhishek Purohit
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
No comments:
Post a Comment