December 11, 2002	Wednesday	Shawwal 6, 1423

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DHAKA, Dec 10: West Indies fast bowler Jermaine Lawson took an extraordinary six wickets in 15 deliveries without conceding a run as Bangladesh crashed to an innings-and-310-run defeat in the first Test on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old Lawson, playing only his third Test, destroyed the home side as they dissolved to a record low 87 all out, the last seven wickets tumbling for seven runs in the final session of the third day.

Right-armer Lawson had bowled four overs for three runs before the fireworks began with Bangladesh, dismissed for 139 in the first innings, on a respectable 80 for three.

After Habibul Bashar fell to Pedro Collins for a top score of 22, Lawson, who made his debut only in October, ran through the next six wickets.

He took three wickets in four balls in the 28th over — all three batsmen falling lbw, including skipper Kahled Mashud first ball to leave Naimur Rahman to survive the hattrick ball — then added a fourth in the 30th.

He wrapped up the innings in the 32nd with two more victims in three balls, Tapash Baisya playing on for a four-ball duck and Talha Jubair yorked by his second delivery.

Lawson’s final figures were a barely believable 6.5-4-3-6. Six Bangladesh batsmen, including the last three, failed to score. The bowler’s performance brought back memories of Curtly Ambrose’s spell of seven wickets for a single run off 32 balls on the way to figures of seven for 25 for West Indies against Australia in Perth in 1993.

Lawson’s previous claim to fame was dismissing Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid on his way to four wickets at 51.5 apiece in his first two tests against India.

Tuesday’s result was the seventh biggest win by an innings in test history, and Bangladesh’s heaviest.

Their previous lowest test innings score was 90, made against Sri Lanka in Colombo in September last year, when Muttiah Muralitharan had taken five for 13 off 9.4 overs. Bangladesh have now lost 15 of their first 16 matches as a test-playing nation. The other one was washed out by rain. Eight of their last nine reverses have been by more than an innings.

The second Test starts in Chittagong on Dec 16.