West Indies are on the verge of a well-deserved victory in the first Test against Bangladesh, thanks to Kemar Roach’s Five-Fer.
Despite a valiant fightback from Shakib Al Hasan and Nurul Hasan at one point, West Indies made a huge stride towards victory on Saturday, June 18, as the hosts went into stumps needing just 35 more runs to complete the task with seven wickets still intact.
Despite the fact that Najmul Shanto started the day with a boundary, Bangladesh had a bad start. Kyle Mayers’ entrance early in the assault proved to be a masterstroke, as he instilled Shanto’s edge.
Mayers was on the verge of getting rid of Mominul Haque when the former skipper was trapped leg-before-wicket with an inswinger.
Liton Das came out firing in an attempt to rapidly erase the deficit, but his high-risk strategy backfired as he chased a wide ball from Roach and fell behind. Even though Hasan Joy appeared to be in control at one point, Bangladesh was definitely terrified at this point.
Shakib Al Hasan was under pressure to save his team and avoid an innings loss, but Bangladesh also needed their opener to bat through the session. The hosts, on the other hand, struck the decisive blow when Roach dismissed the well-set batsman.
To add to Bangladesh’s troubles, Hasan Joy attempted a loose cut and edged it to the keeper.
As Bangladesh showed energy to charge into this situation, Shakib decided to bat out with Nurul Hasan in a decisive manner. The duo batted through a wicketless period at a key point in the game to not only erase the deficit but also to create a considerable advantage.
While Shakib was the aggressor in the first half of the session, Nurul gained command in the second half as the two worked together for a century to raise Bangladesh’s hopes.
Unfortunately, following the tea break, they both played weak strokes, giving West Indies the opportunity they craved as the visitors’ fight came to an end, leaving the hosts with an 84-run goal.
The outcome was not predetermined since the story had one more twist. In the same over, Bangladesh got off to a perfect start when Kraigg Brathwaite was strangled down the leg side and Raymon Reifer fumbled one to the wicketkeeper.
After Khaled Ahmed uprooted Nkrumah Bonner’s off stump in his second over, West Indies were down to 9/3 after four overs in shocking fashion.
John Campbell, on the other hand, was not about to let Bangladesh make a game of it, and he continued hitting boundaries to eat into the target.
West Indies are on the verge of winning after a five-fer by Kemar Roach
