After losing 7 wickets for 261 runs in the first Test of the series in Antigua, Justin Greaves fought back with two batters at the tail end. Bangladesh bowlers have to struggle to get Kemar Roach, Jayden Sills out. Shamar Joseph at number ten could not be dismissed. This is not the first time such an incident has happened before. In cricket, there are frequent cases of the team resisting the tailender when the team is in danger. But it has become a regular occurrence in Bangladesh cricket. After narrowly tying the West Indies in Antigua, the visitors squandered the opportunity. Now Bangladesh are waiting for a tough road in response to their 450 runs.
Bangladesh bowlers are not able to stand against the tailenders. If 7-8 wickets fall, the bowlers probably become quite helpless. Maybe they start thinking, the wicket will go away. This kind of thinking is the problem. Earlier in several matches, the tailenders took the match away from Bangladesh. Looking from the outside, the reason is the mentality. If this mindset is not changed, the development of Bangladesh in Test cricket is never possible. Justin Greaves scored more than 189 runs with three tailenders. This run basically knocked Bangladesh out of the match.
West Indies scored 450 runs in the first 9 wickets on the Antigua wicket. Such a collection in the first innings in Caribbean conditions gave the West Indies control of the match. Watching the batting of the hosts, it did not seem for a moment that batting on the wicket was difficult or that there was anything special about the bowling. Batting on the wicket is much easier when the ball gets a bit old, although it struggles a bit against the new ball. The main problem with the Bangladeshi batsmen is that they cannot fight at all with the new ball. As a result, the entire team is under severe pressure in the middle order. Taking on the challenge of the new ball in the Caribbean conditions on Saturday, the shock has to be digested at the beginning. The two openers returned to the dressing room within an hour. First Zakir Hasan, later Mahmudul Hasan returned.
Muminul Haque and Shahadat Hossain Dipu remain on the wicket. Next are Mehdi Hasan Miraj, Liton Das and Zaker Ali. Bangladesh will have a tough time with these five batters. Run or not; There is no option to stay on the wicket. All of the Windies batsmen who have scored runs have spent time at the wicket. Centurion Greaves, who scored the highest 115 runs, spent 374 minutes at the wicket. Only four boundaries came in his bat. He did not seem very interested in scoring runs. His main aim was to spend time on the wicket. Greaves has been successful because of spending time on the wicket. He was ably supported by lower order batsman Kemar Roach. He spent 252 minutes on the wicket while facing 144 balls. As a result of spending this time, 47 runs have also been added to his name.
On the first day too, the Caribbean batsmen were seen falling on the wicket. Opener Mikail Lewis spent 330 minutes at the wicket effortlessly. Athanage essentially increased the West Indies' run rate. The left-handed batsman scored 90 runs off 130 balls with 10 fours and 1 six. He also spent 170 minutes at the wicket. The effort of the Caribbean batsmen to stay on the wicket enriched their scoreboard. If the Bangladeshi batter can do this, they will also be successful. Now wait to see how long Liton-Moominul-Shahadat can hold the wicket!
