Stumps Bangladesh 47 for 3 (Mominul 31*, Cornwall 2-28, Gabriel 1-13) & 430 lead West Indies 259 (Brathwaite 76, Blackwood 68, Mehidy 4-58, Nayeem 2-54) by 218 runs
On the face of it, 231 runs for the loss of 11 wickets on a third day of a Test would indicate relatively attrition-filled cricket on a rapidly deteriorating pitch. The cricket during the first Test between Bangladesh and West Indies in Chattogram itself was anything but that, and the pitch has played better than the numbers suggest. Mehidy Hasan Miraz precipitated a sensational collapse for West Indies, who lost their last five wickets for six runs inside 23 balls to concede a lead of 171 runs, when once they looked likely to last the whole day and eat substantially into Bangladesh's 430 posted in the first innings.
In response, Kraigg Brathwaite asked Rahkeem Cornwall to share the new ball with Kemar Roach, and the burly offspinner responded by trapping Tamim Iqbal in front for no score with a quicker one, and then lured Najmul Hossain Shanto to nick one to Jermaine Blackwood to slip for a second-ball duck. Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque, though, steadied the ship and took the Bangladesh lead past 200, though the former fell to Shannon Gabriel's short ball, nicking it to Joshua Da Silva down the leg side to leave the hosts at 33 for 3. Cornwall could have had a third for the day when Mushfiqur Rahim gloved one on to his body and was taken at forward short leg, but West Indies lacked conviction in their appeal and also missed a chance to review, with Rahim on five then.
In balance, the first two-thirds of the day belonged to West Indies though Taijul Islam dismissed Nkrumah Bonner off the very first ball of the day, nicking to Shanto at first slip. Debutant Kyle Mayers, who got to 40, could have been dismissed in an identical fashion off the third ball he faced, but his edge appeared to take a little deflection off Liton Das' pads, as Shanto failed to grab on after getting his fingertips to the ball.
Mayers settled down and crunched a couple of pleasing boundaries off Mustafizur Rahman's first over of the morning - an on drive and a cover drive - to settle West Indies' nerves. Their captain Brathwaite then brought up his 20th Test fifty with a neat flick off his hips against Islam. Brathwaite and Mayers added 55 in just over 11 overs while dominating the first hour of play, especially with their strokeplay square of the wicket. Brathwaite used his feet cleverly against both Islam and Hasan - who replaced Rahman quite early - and his sashays down the pitch forced the spinners to drop short more often.
Runs were coming at a fair tick for West Indies, though Mayers was lucky when Bangladesh chose not to review a leg before appeal when Hasan bowled one fuller, and the left-hander had the ball hit pad ahead of bat with a forward press. The replays indicated that the ball would have gone on to hit the top of off stump. Hasan wouldn't have to wait long for his reward, though, with Brathwaite leaving a length ball that pitched outside off and surprised him with the amount of turn back into him, thus clipping the top of off stump.
In his first over of the day, drew Mayers forward, and struck him on the pad after straightening from around the wicket, as the debutant walked away after considering a review. The replays, though, indicated that there may have been bat on the ball before it struck the pad, and a review could have kept Mayers on course for his first fifty.
Taking the cue from their colleagues, Blackwood and Da Silva - who scored 68 and 42, respectively - then settled down to frustrate the Bangladesh bowlers for virtually the entire afternoon session. If Da Silva was nimble in his footwork - both pressing forward and playing deep inside his crease to negotiate the spinners - Blackwood was clever at how he defended anything close to the stumps, and pounced on even the slightest lapses in length from the spinners. One such full delivery was driven through covers to bring up his 14th Test fifty.
The new ball was taken by Bangladesh after Mustafizur Rahman bowled a couple of overs with the older ball with Das standing up to the stumps, but nothing appeared to be working for Haque, especially with the injury-enforced absence of Shakib Al Hasan. Rahman even earned himself two official warnings for running into the danger area in his follow through, but Bangladesh's luck turned dramatically as Hasan bounded in to bowl the 93rd over of the innings.
The third ball kept a bit low and spun enough to take Da Silva's edge through to Das, aborting the sixth-wicket partnership at 99. Off the next over, Miraz benefitted from a thin edge down leg side from Blackwood to ring in tea. On resumption, Roach slogged his third ball down deep midwicket's throat, and when Cornwall missed a drive off his bowling, Miraz looked on course to join Shakib and Sohag Gazi as the only Bangladesh players with a century and a five-for in the same Test.
But an injudicious slog across the line from Jomel Warrican off Islam put paid to those hopes, as their collapse denied them an opportunity at reversing the pressure on to the home side. As things stand, with six sessions to play, Bangladesh have the opportunity to bat long enough to set West Indies anything in the vicinity of 350 in the fourth innings; and the time remaining means the hosts can also have a shot at victory.
