On a good pitch, Bangladesh put up a subpar score of 234, led by Litton Das, who top-scored for his side with a gritty 53 runs off 70 runs on Day 1 of the second Test against West Indies at St Lucia. The match, which kicked off on Saturday, June 25, also saw West Indies notch a score of 67 without the loss of any wicket. Skipper Kraig Brathwaite is currently batting on 30, and his partner John Campbell scored a quick 32 runs off 41 deliveries at Stumps on the first day.
Having won the toss and electing to bowl first, skipper Kraigg hoped for better assistance from his bowlers due to the grass on the pitch. Having posted a decent score of 77/2 at lunch, the Bangladesh innings began to unravel as the side lost eight wickets while scoring just 134 runs, as the West Indies pacers were bundled for just 234.
In addition to Litton, Tamim Iqbal (46), Najmul Shanto (26) and Anamul Haque were the other batsmen who started well but were unable to capitalise on their good start. Shoriful Islam, who came in at ten, added some quick runs by smashing five boundaries. He scored 26 runs in just 17 deliveries.
For West Indies, Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph scalped three wickets each, while Anderson Phillip and Kyle Mayers dismissed two batters each. Phillip, who was handed his debut in this match, grabbed a wicket on his second delivery. Meanwhile, first Test hero Kemar Roach, who was just a wicket away from a milestone 250 Test wickets, went wicketless and will have to wait longer for achieving this feat.
Following Day 1's play, Bangladesh's batting coach Jamie Siddons said, "I thought we were a lot more patient today and left the ball well, which we worked on over the last week since the first Test where I thought we played at too many balls. They bowled really well today and we didn't bat as long as we would've liked. 230 is not enough on that wicket."
"Today I thought Tamim, Liton looked fantastic but the 50s and 40s are not going to give you enough runs. So those sorts of players need to go on when they get their start," he added.
To recap, Bangladesh were bowled out for a dismal 103 runs in the first innings of their opening Test match. They went on to lose the match by seven wickets. This was a 99th defeat for Bangladesh in Test cricket and the side will hope to avoid facing their 100th defeat in this Test.
