By Saqibul Islam
MIRPUR, Bangladesh
(TheSportsNEXT) November 13, 2012: West Indies started their Bangladesh
tour in an impressive manner on Tuesday when they reached a total of 361 for four
on Day 1 of the first Test at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
Veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and opener Kieran
Powell were the stars for West Indies on inaugural day of the series as
Bangladeshi bowlers failed to pounce on the spinners-friendly conditions and
offered too many boundary balls to the visitors.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy won the toss and he had no
hesitation in choosing to bat first on a first-day pitch at Shere Bangla
National Stadium which is due to offer bite and purchase to the finger and
wrist spinners in the later stages of the Test match.
The explosive West Indian opening batsman Chris Gayle
started the day with a flurry of boundaries, thus setting the tone, as he raced
to 24 runs from 17 balls hitting two boundaries and as many maximums but his
onslaught was halted when debutant off-spinner Shohag Gazi got him caught off
Mahmudullah to grab his first wicket in Test career.
During his brief stay at the wicket, Chris Gayle became only
the first batsman in the history of Test cricket to hit the first ball of a
Test match for a six.
Darren Bravo (14 from 28 – 3 fours) and Marlon Samuels (16
from 41 – 3 fours) also fell cheaply as West Indies were reduced to three down
for 106 runs.
However, opening batsman Kieran Powell kept his cool on the
other end as he shared a 125-run stand with experienced batsman Shivnarine
Chanderpaul as he scored his second Test hundred before becoming third victim
of the debutant Shohag Gazi for 117 runs from 178 balls with the help of 18
boundaries and a huge six.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul continued his good work with the bat
as he hit his 26th Test century and was unbeaten at the crease with
wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin (52 not out from 88 – 5 fours) as the duo
added 130 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket partnership when umpires called it
stumps on Day 1.
The only positive for the home side was performance of the
debutant Shohag Gazi who captured three of the four dismissals while all of the
other bowlers were pretty ordinary as they kept on offering loose deliveries
all day long.
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