KINGSTOWN (St Vincent): West Indies overcame their own atrocious catching and a defiant hundred by Mushfiqur Rahim to defeat Bangladesh by ten wickets before lunch on the fifth and final day of the first Test at the Arnos Vale Stadium on Tuesday.

After missing a succession of chances on the fourth day, the home side’s fielders continued with their sloppy work before Musfiqur was last out for 116.

The tourists’ captain was the prime beneficiary of the butter-fingered Caribbean cricketers in lifting his side to a second innings total of 314.

Needing just 13 runs for victory and a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, Chris Gayle and Kraigg Brathwaite, the man of the match for his first innings 212, knocked off the runs 40 minutes before the scheduled lunch interval.

Fast bowler Kemar Roach finished with four for 64, making the critical breakthrough on the final morning when Nasir Hossain spooned a catch to Shannon Gabriel running in from mid-on after he and his captain resumed with the total on 256 for five, still needing 46 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

That was effectively the end of the lower-order resistance with Roach trapping Shuvagata Hom leg-before and Gabriel dismissing Taijul Islam and Rubel Hossain for ducks in the space of three deliveries.

However, Mushfiqur was able to reach his third Test century, a straight six off Roach taking him to the coveted landmark and an edged boundary between the wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin and first slip Gayle allowing the visitors to avoid the humiliation of yet another innings defeat.

“The catching is a cause for concern because we could have finished the game yesterday if we had taken all our chances,” said West Indies captain Ramdin. “Slip catching has been hampering us in the last two series and we need to correct that ahead of the next Test.”

Scoreboard

WEST INDIES (1st Innings) 484-7 decl

BANGLADESH (1st Innings) 182

BANGLADESH (2nd Innings, overnight 256-5)

Tamim Iqbal b Benn 53

Shamsur Rahman c wkpr Ramdin b Roach 4

Imrul Kayes c Edwards b Gayle 25

Mominul Haque c wkpr Ramdin b Benn 12

Mahmudullah c wkpr Ramdin b Roach 66

Mushfiqur Rahim c Bravo b Taylor 116

Nasir Hossain c Gabriel b Roach 19

Shuvagata Hom lbw Roach 0

Taijul Islam b Gabriel 0

Rubel Hossain b Gabriel 0

Al-Amin Hossain not out 0

EXTRAS (B-12, LB-4, W-2, NB-1) 19

TOTAL (all out, 113.3 overs) 314

FALL OF WKTS: 1-11, 2-81, 3-104, 4-107, 5-237, 6-279, 7-291, 8-292, 9-292.

BOWLING: J. Taylor 17.3-3-64-1; K. Roach 22-6-64-4 (1w); S. Gabriel 17-9-25-2 (1w); J. Blackwood 12-1-51-0; S. Benn 28-8-44-2 (1nb); C. Gayle 17-3-50-1.

WEST INDIES (2nd Innings):

C. Gayle not out 9

K. Brathwaite not out 4

TOTAL (for no wkt, 2.4 overs) 13

DID NOT BAT: K. Edwards, D. Bravo, S. Chanderpaul, J. Blackwood, D. Ramdin, J. Taylor, K. Roach, S. Benn, S. Gabriel.

BOWLING: Al-Amin Hossain 1-0-4-0; Taijul Islam 1.4-0-9-0.

RESULT: West Indies won by 10 wickets.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Kraigg Brathwaite (West Indies)

UMPIRES: Marais Erasmus (South Africa), Richard Illingworth (England).

TV UMPIRE: Steve Davis (Australia)

MATCH REFEREE: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)

Published in Dawn, September 10th , 2014