After a shambolic performance on the second day, Bangladesh have fought back on Day 3 with some commendable performances from the likes of Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz during the second Test match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Saturday.
With 113-run lead on the board in the second innings, Windies again lost three top order batsmen quickly and ended the day with total of 41/3, they now lead by 154 runs. Tigers bowled brilliantly and scalped 3 Windies wickets to end Day 3 on a high. Spinners Mehidy, Taijul Islam and Nayeem Hasan bagged one wicket each.
Earlier, in reply to West Indies’ first innings total of 409 runs, Bangladesh fell short of 113 runs as they tumbled for 296. When other Bangladesh batsmen failed to deliver, Liton and Mehidy stood apart and it was down to their 126 partnership for the seventh-wicket stand which gave Bangladesh a chance to save this match. Their alliance also helped the hosts avoid a follow-on. Before getting dismissed, Liton scored 133-ball 71 laced with 7 boundaries and Mehidy scored 140-ball 57 laced with 6 boundaries respectively. For Windies, skipper Rahkeem Cornwall was the peak of the bowlers as he bagged five-for.
Ahead of Day 4, West Indies have still got a good lead on board. There are still some decent batsmen to come with the likes of Nkrumah Bonner, Kyle Mayers and Joshua Da Silva, who have been scripting rescue acts for their team throughout the Test series. That being said, this match is still a tricky one for the hosts to win. This is because chasing anything in excess of 275 in the fourth innings could be very challenging. All in all, there is so much to play for in the two days to come.
