Five-star Bishoo spins Windies to series win

MIRPUR, Bangladesh (CMC):

Devendra Bishoo exploited favourable conditions to finish with career-best figures and bowl West Indies to a 229-run victory in the second Test against Bangladesh yesterday.

The West Indies leg-spinner grabbed five wickets for 90 runs from 25 overs, as Bangladesh were dismissed for 278 in their second innings on the final day at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.

Bishoo ended with match figures of eight for 152, the best by a West Indies spinner in an overseas or neutral Test since his compatriot Lance Gibbs collected nine for 143 against India 36 years ago in Mumbai.

Kemar Roach formalised the fourth victory for West Indies eight Tests against the Bangladeshis, when he bowled Rubel Hossain for seven about half-hour after lunch.

The result meant that West Indies won the two-match series 1-0, after the badly weather-affected first Test ended in a draw last Tuesday at the Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.

This followed a 2-1 series triumph in the one-day international series and a narrow defeat in the sole Twenty20 International.

It was the first Test series victory for West Indies on foreign soil, since they prevailed over Zimbabwe by the same margin eight years ago.

Prior to the match, West Indies were expected to be tormented by the Bangladeshi spinners on a turning pitch, particularly on the last day, but the home team found themselves confronting that prospect instead.

Early success

Bishoo gave West Indies early success, when Bangladesh continued from their overnight total of 164 for three, chasing a highly improbable target of 508.

He had Tamim Iqbal caught at slip for the top score of 83, when the left-hander charged down the pitch and tried to play a flighted delivery outside the off-stump through cover. Tamim struck eight fours and one six from 158 balls in just over three hours of batting.

West Indies ran into a roadblock when Shakib Al Hasan joined his captain Mushfiqur Rahim and they spent close to the next 1¹/² hours batting with enterprise, putting on 88 for the fifth wicket.

A short ball from Bishoo was cut through backward point by Shakib for his first boundary, and Mushfiqur joined in the fun with a pull for four when the leg-spinner dropped short again in his following over.

Bishoo continued to feel the brunt of the assault, but Mushfiqur drove a pitched-up delivery from Fidel Edwards through cover for his seventh boundary to bring up his 50 from 81 balls.

The West Indies leg-spinner conceded two successive fours to Shakib in his 18th over, when the left-hander dangerously drove him over the top of mid-off for his third four and followed up with a square cut for another boundary.

Another short ball from Edwards was rocketed through square leg for four to carry Shakib to his 50 from 65 balls.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy persisted with Bishoo, but soon took matters into his own hands.

He provided the breakthrough, when he had Shakib caught at fly slip for 55 from a leading edge, looking to play into the leg-side. The left-handed Bangladesh all-rounder struck seven fours from 70 balls.

After this, West Indies faced token resistance from the remainder of the Bangladesh batting with the turning point coming when Bishoo bowled Mushfiqur for 69, as the home team reached 263 for six at lunch. The wicketkeeper/batsman stroked nine fours from 109 balls in close to 2¹/² hours at the crease.

Bishoo struck twice in the first over after the interval, trapping Nasir Hossain lbw for three and having Suhrawadi Shuvo caught at slip for a one-ball duck, before he also removed Naeem Islam lbw for three to accelerate the slide.

West Indies leave Dhaka today for India, where they play three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 International against Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side.