At one end was Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who took seven-and-a-half hours to make his second Test double hundred. At the other end was Tamim Iqbal, who hit so many boundaries in his 72 that he turned the single into an event. In the end, Bangladesh were halfway towards the follow-on mark, at the cost of their top order.
West Indies didn’t lose a wicket in two sessions today, with Denesh Ramdin making a hundred and putting on 296 with Chanderpaul. After Darren Sammy declared with Chanderpaul having equalled his highest Test score, West Indies did lose their bearings for a bit, though, as Tamim, along with Shahriar Nafees briefly, entertained the sparse crowd with a thrill-a-minute show of unrestrained hitting.
Bangladesh tend to regularly indulge in such shows, but they generally prove to be self-consuming in Test cricket. Tamim and Nafees both fell to urges to manufacture outrageous strokes, and it was down to Naeem Islam and Shakib Al Hasan to shut down the thrill store for the evening.
Tamim’s first boundary was fortuitous, when a lifter from Ravi Rampaul took the edge and flew over the slip cordon. A similar, and better targeted, snorter soon consumed Junaid Siddique. Then began the Tamim-and-Nafees display. It barely lasted eight overs, fetched Bangladesh 63 runs, 52 of which came in boundaries. The highlight was Tamim’s assault on Tino Best, who was punched, pulled and driven for four fours in an over.
The suicidal moments arrived soon enough. After hitting seven fours in his 31, Nafees flailed at one too close to him, and was caught behind off Rampaul. Tamim carried on a while longer and hit Sunil Narine for two sixes in three deliveries before somehow managing to tennis-forehand a short and wide Sammy delivery to short mid-on.
The frenzied action was in stark contrast to the calm manner in which Chanderpaul and Ramdin took West Indies to an imposing score. They batted nearly three sessions, and their near-triple century stand came at a healthy rate of 3.57 runs an over.
Smart stats: Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s double-century is his second in Tests and the 20th by a West Indian batsman in away Tests. Brian Lara holds the record for the most away double-centuries by a West Indian batsman (5).
For the second time against Bangladesh and the 18th time overall, three centuries were scored in a single innings for West Indies. The previous such occasion came against England in Trinidad in 2009.
The 296-run stand between Chanderpaul and Denesh Ramdin is the second-highest fifth-wicket stand for West Indies. The highest is 322 between Lara and Jimmy Adams in Jamaica in 1999.
The 296-run stand is the sixth-highest in Tests against Bangladesh and and the highest partnership for West Indies in Bangladesh.
Ramdin’s century is his third in Tests and his second this year after the 107 in Edgbaston. Among West Indian wicketkeepers, only Jeff Dujon has scored more centuries (5).
Chanderpaul, troubled a few times in the morning by the quicks, but otherwise in control, kept leaving offerings outside off stump, but still managed to outscore Ramdin. Chanderpaul hit fewer boundaries on the day than Ramdin, and went about his job unobtrusively as usual. Singles were picked regularly, deliveries were worked from off through midwicket, and he did enough to let Bangladesh know who was in charge.
What stood about Ramdin’s innings was his desire to bat long – he was at the crease for five-and-a-half hours. He did loft the spinners for a few boundaries after getting to his second Test hundred of the year but before that, he had gone through several periods of denial, refusing to go after innocuous stuff from the tiring spinners.
