Warrican dismantles Bangladesh top order as Shadman Islam reaches 105

Jomel Warrican turned the opening Test in Mirpur on its head, claiming five wickets to restrict Bangladesh to 272. His performance capped a day where the hosts collapsed from a promising position, leaving the West Indies trailing by 138 runs when bad light ended play early on Thursday.

The visitors arrived at the ground needing 273 runs to level the match. On the first day, Warrican had already taken two wickets. He continued his momentum on the second morning, finishing with figures of 5 for 53. This marked his fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Shamar Joseph and debutant Joshua Bishop supported the attack with two wickets each.

Bangladesh opened the second day at 213 for 3. Shadman Islam, who had retired not out on 99 the previous day, resumed the innings. On the second ball of the day, he flicked Bishop for four to reach his third Test century. However, the milestone proved short-lived. In the next over, Bishop trapped him leg before wicket. Islam finished with a score of 105.

The dismissal triggered a rapid decline for the hosts. They lost their remaining seven wickets for just 51 runs. Towhid Hridoy, who had retired hurt with cramps on Day One at 42, returned to bat but was bowled by Bishop without adding to his overnight score. Litton Das survived the collapse with an unbeaten 34, but Warrican and Joseph dismantled the lower order before lunch. All out, Bangladesh finished on 272.

"We should have done better," Shadman Islam said after the innings. "If our top-order batters had converted their scores into bigger innings of 150, 170 or even 200, the team total could have reached 450 or 500."

The West Indies began their reply with aggression. John Campbell and Brandon King attacked the Bangladesh fast bowlers. Hasan Mahmud removed King for 15, but Campbell continued to build, reaching 50 off 61 balls to guide the visitors to 89 for 1 at tea. After a rain interruption of about an hour, Mehidy Hasan Miraz dismissed Campbell for 54. A sharply turning off-break took the outside edge, and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto took a diving catch to his left.

"The ball was a little bit darker and we had momentum going before the rain break," Campbell said. "I think that [rain] allowed them to regroup and they were hitting better areas." Taijul Islam then removed Kavem Hodge for 7 and Amir Jangoo for a duck in the 36th over, leaving the visitors at 97 for 4. Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Justin Greaves batted on 43 and 15 respectively when play stopped.