NORTH SOUND: Bangladesh’s well-established vulnerability to fast bowling was in evidence again with the visitors crashing to 76 for six at lunch after being put in to bat against the West Indies on the opening day of the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Thursday.

Double strikes by Kemar Roach and Kyle Mayers and a wicket apiece for Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph had Bangladesh tottering at 45 for six before captain Shakib al Hasan (27 not out) and Mehidy Hasan offered enough resistance to prevent an almost exact repetition of the debacle of four years earlier when they were routed for 43 on the first morning of the series at the same venue.

With Kraigg Brathwaite having no hesitation in opting to bowl first, Roach wasted no time in getting among the wickets.

Passed fit just the day before, the senior seamer struck with the second ball of the match as Mahmudul Hasan wafted carelessly at a wide delivery for Nkrumah Bonner to take the diving catch at third slip.

Roach then bowled Najmul Hossain between bat and pad in his next over to increase the burden on the shoulders of Tamim Iqbal.

Tamim, fresh from a century in the lone warm-up match against a Cricket West Indies President’s XI, looked in the mood for the challenge and went past 5,000 runs in Test cricket in the course of his innings, joining the absent Mushfiqur Rahim as the only Bangladeshis to reach the landmark in Test cricket.

However he lost Monimul Haque to Seales, Jermaine Blackwood snaring the chance at second slip, before falling himself for 29 when a loose leg-side flick at Joseph gave wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva a straightforward catch.

Mayers, West Indies’ bowling hero in the 10-wicket series-clinching victory over England two months earlier, then picked up from where he left off in Grenada with two wickets in his opening over.

An indecisive Liton Das prodded forward to give da Silva a simple catch and two balls later, replacement wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan fell leg-before offering no shot to a big inswinger to become the fourth batsman who failed to score.

Shakib, whose future in Test cricket remained in doubt for most of the past 12 months, lived dangerously in playing some expansive shots and was lucky to escape when Seales could only get his fingertips to the ball running back from mid-on when the Bangladesh captain heaved at Roach.

West Indies are giving a debut to left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie while Raymon Reifer is playing his second Test, four-and-a-half years after his first, as former captain and premier all-rounder Jason Holder is being rested from this series.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH (1st innings): Tamim Iqbal c Da Silva b Joseph 29 Mahmudul Hasan Joy c Bonner b Roach 0 Najmul Hossain Shanto b Roach 0 Mominul Haque c Blackwood b Seales 0 Litton Das c Da Silva b Mayers 12 Shakib Al Hasan not out 27 Nurul Hasan lbw b Mayers 0 Mehidy Hasan Miraz not out 2 EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, W-1) 6
TOTAL (for six wkts, 25 overs) 76 TO BAT: Mustafizur Rahman, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain FALL OF WICKETS: 1-1 (Mahmudul), 2-3 (Najmul), 3-16 (Mominul), 4-41 (Tamim), 5-41 (Litton), 6-45 (Nurul) BOWLING: Roach 8-2-21-2 (1w), Seales 6-1-24-1, Joseph 5-2-15-1, Mayers 5-2-10-2, Motie 1-0-1-0.

WEST INDIES: K. Brathwaite, J. Campbell, R. Reifer, N. Bonner, J. Blackwood, K. Mayers, J. Da Silva, A. Joseph, K. Roach, J. Seales, G. Motie.

Published in Dawn,June 17th, 2022