Tigers make solid start

  Bangladeshi captain Mushfiqur Rahim cuts the ball against West Indies during the opening day of the first Test match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Friday. — AFP photo

Azad Majumder . Chittagong

Opener Tamim Iqbal and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim hit  a half-century each to steer Bangladesh to a commanding 255-4  at close on the first day of the first Test against West Indies in Chittagong on Friday.

Mushfiq celebrated his debut as the eight Test captain of Bangladesh with

68 not out while Tamim provided the team the early momentum with a sedate 52 off 141 balls.

West Indies toiled hard for wickets on a placid pitch that offered no movement to the pacers, though spinners generated some turn which did not allow Bangladesh to dominate completely.

Still it was more than a good start for the home side in the face of an attack that has all kinds of varieties with two genuine fast bowlers backed by a decent medium pacer and two good spinners.

West Indies used their every option, but could do little to make the home side unsettled.  Even a deadly bouncer from Fidel Edwards that left Shahriar Nafees bloodied could not shatter the confidence of Bangladesh team.

Whatever success West Indies had on the opening day, it came at the mercy of the batsmen. Of the four wickets that fell, only one came off a good delivery while the others were gifted to them.

Ravi Rampaul had Imrul Kayes caught by Carlton Baugh for 10 off a ball that sometimes a batsman can find difficult to face, though it was not totally unplayable.

It remained their only success in the first session apart from hitting one-down Nafees on his face with a bouncer.  Nafees looked in good touch and hit four boundaries during his 21 off 18 balls before he was forced to leave the field.

Replacing him at the crease Roqibul Hassan perhaps gave Bangladesh more satisfaction than any other batsman as he gave an indication to fill the shoes of erratic Mohammad Ashraful at number four position.

Roqibul batted with great confidence, played some shots which may not be the most eye-catching ones but surely most valuable for the side, who always tend to collapse at this stage of their innings.

He, however, could not finish on a high and was out for 41 having been at the receiving end of a dubious decision. The off-cutter of Sammy that hit him on the pad could have easily missed the leg stump, though umpire thought otherwise.

Mushfiq was living dangerously early on and was given at least one serious reprieve by Sammy when he dropped him at slip off Devendra Bishoo on 16.

Shortly afterwards he was beaten again by Bishoo, but the ball somehow missed the bat, pad, stumps and the wicketkeeper to produce a few bye runs for Bangladesh.

Sakib al Hasan, who added 79 runs with Mushfiq for the fourth wicket, however, looked solid on the other side as long as he stayed. Sakib made only one mistake in his innings and paid the price, edging Samuels to wicketkeeper to get dismissed for 40.

However, Mushfiq grew in confidence in the final session and successfully managed to see off the day staying unbeaten. Naeem Islam was batting on eight with him at the stumps. 

Mushfiq is now only 32 runs away from a unique feat of becoming first the Bangladeshi to score a century on his debut Test as captain. 

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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