Bangladesh batted exactly the way West Indies wanted, falling into the trap to waste their hard work, said West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin after his side notched a 296-run victory in the second Test to complete a clean sweep in the two-Test series on Tuesday.
Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque batted doggedly to put on century partnership and just when it looked they would make West Indies regretting for not enforcing a follow-on both the batsmen fell into their trap.
Ramdin changed the end of left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, which forced the batsmen to play against the wind and capitulate.
‘We were trying to keep the run rate down and trying to create the opportunity but we didn’t take that chance,’ Ramdin said after the match. ‘We also tried to switch the bowlers around, and make them hit Benn against the breeze. He [Tamim Iqbal] tried that and it came off for us.’
Bangladesh collapsed after Tamim departed top-edging Benn to Shannon Gabriel at midwicket for 64 that also ended his 110-run partnership with Mominul. It was Tamim’s slowest Test fifty which came off 146 balls with just a four and six.
The left-hander struck just two four and a six overall and faced 180 balls before leaving undeservedly.
Benn returned in the next over to end the resistance of Mominul who also became the victim of a soft dismissal lofting a catch to the same fielder. The duo batted out an entire session to raise some hope for Bangladesh in an otherwise one-sided Test match, but they all had gone after they left.
Bangladesh lost their last eight wickets for just 34 runs folding their innings just two balls before the scheduled ending of the day’s play that handed West Indies the win with a day to spare.
‘They go hard at the ball when the balls are shaping away from them. A lot of slip-catching was done in this match,’ said Ramdin
‘Roachie [Kemar Roach] bowled fantastically well [in the first innings]. I think at one point they were looking for the ball going away and it came back at them, especially for their captain [Mushfiqur Rahim].’
Ramdin, who decided against enforcing follow-on despite a sizeable 219-run first innings lead, admitted that if Bangladesh had a few wickets in hand on the final day with the pitch turning out to be flat gradually, it could have been an interesting game.
‘It was a very good batting pitch, still,’ he said, who led West Indies successfully to his first Test series as captain. ‘Going into the fifth day, it could have gone either way with wickets in hand. But it becomes very difficult for a new guy coming into bat here and getting a start.’
-With New Age input
