Sports

West Indies beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets in 1st Test

West Indies went up 1-0 in the two-match series, beating Bangladesh by seven wickets in the first Test on Sunday at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

The hosts survived a fiery spell of fast bowler Syed Khaled Ahmed who reduced them to 9-3 as Bangladesh sensed an unlikely victory after setting a just 84-run target.

However John Campbell and Jermaine Blackwood eased the tension in West Indies camp, helping the side reach 88-3 and sealed the deal within just half an hour on day four.

Campbell led the victory with an unbeaten 58 runs knock while Blackwood was not out on 26.

Khaled took all three wickets for 27 runs in eight overs.

Bangladesh was bowled out for 103 runs in first innings before West Indies gained a 162 runs lead, racking up 265.

Bangladesh showed a better performance in the second innings to raise a prospect of an unlikely victory.

Resuming the day on 50-2 on day three, Bangladesh were reduced to 112-6 and it appeared that they would end up tasting an innings defeat.

West Indies bowlers broke through with Kyle Myers who removed Najmul Hossain Shanto on 17.

Another overnight batter Mahmudul Hasan Joy played patiently but saw the wickets tumbling at the other end.

After scoring a duck in the first innings, Mominul Haque this time made 4, extending his lean batting streak to ninth straight single digit figure.

Inform Liton Das then was out on 17 and soon Joy followed him after playing 153 balls for his 42.

Shakib and Sohan kept Bangladesh unscathed in whole second session, reversing the pressure on West Indies.

In the process they both brought up their half-centuries as Bangladesh sensed an unlikely chance to produce a victory.

Things changed dynamically when Kemar Roach returned with fire in the last session of the day. He firstly dismissed Shakib for 63, brining an end to his 123-run partnership with Sohan.

Four overs later Roach broke the resistance of Sohan also, getting rid of him for 64. He then cleaned up the tail in no time as Bangladesh lost last four wickets for 13 runs, all to Roach who ended up with 5-53.

Bangladesh by then set a 84-run target for West Indies to win the game as they finally were bowled out for 246 in the second innings.

However that sterling effort of Shakib and Sohan mattered little at the end.

Source: BSS