West Indies beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in Mirpur as Brandon King’s 81 seals the chase

Nayeem’s fifty could not stretch the target

Bangladesh started the fourth morning on 79 for 6, a lead of 106, and needed a long stay from the lower order. Jaker Ali, playing as Mominul Haque’s concussion replacement, added only four to his overnight 18 before edging Jomel Warrican to first slip.

Nayeem Hasan held things together. The off-spinner, who had already taken four wickets and reached 50 in Tests earlier in the match, made 52 off 91 balls, his maiden Test fifty, before he was caught at long-on off Roston Chase. Bangladesh were all out for 142, which set West Indies 170.

Chase and Warrican turned Bangladesh’s own pitch against them

Chase finished with 5 for 36 and Warrican took four, so West Indies’ spinners claimed nine of the ten second-innings wickets on a surface prepared for spin.

It went the other way in the chase. King and John Campbell put on more than a hundred for the first wicket before Shoriful Islam bowled Campbell for 49. Hasan Mahmud removed Tagenarine Chanderpaul cheaply, but that was all Bangladesh got. The home spinners went wicketless as King, with 10 fours and a six in his 115 balls, and Kavem Hodge, 31 not out off 27, saw it home. Rain and then bad light held the chase up, but not for long.

King’s 81 is his best Test score.

Three home defeats in a row against West Indies

Bangladesh lost both Tests when West Indies last toured in 2021: Kyle Mayers’ unbeaten 210 won the Chattogram Test, and West Indies took the Mirpur Test by 17 runs. This defeat makes it three in a row at home against a side that started the match eighth in the WTC table.

The pattern is familiar. Bangladesh prepare a slow turner, and a visiting spinner with control does the damage. Chase’s five included Shadman Islam, Towhid Hridoy and Najmul Hossain Shanto on Friday, before he came back for Taijul Islam and Nayeem on Saturday. For the wider case for the hosts at home, see why Bangladesh are dangerous underdogs at home, which this result tests hard.

What happens next

Bangladesh’s points percentage falls from 55.56 to 47.62, with three wins, three defeats and a draw from seven Tests, and they drop from fourth to fifth in the World Test Championship, according to Wisden’s updated table. West Indies move to 26.92 per cent but stay eighth.

The second and final Test starts at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on 5 November. Mushfiqur Rahim, who missed Mirpur with a finger injury picked up in practice, is expected to be available, and Mominul’s place depends on how he comes through the concussion protocols.

Market watch

• West Indies go to Sylhet knowing a draw wins them the series, so Bangladesh have to force a result.
• Bangladesh’s top four made 23 runs between them in the second innings. That fragility is the main question before Sylhet.
• Chase and Warrican took nine second-innings wickets. If Sylhet also turns, they carry the same threat.
• Watch the squad news for Mushfiqur’s return and a decision on Mominul.

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Top image: Photo: Nurunnaby Chowdhury (Hasive) / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons