Bangladesh v West Indies, 2nd Test, Khulna November 20, 2012

Bangladesh's batting in focus again

Match facts


November 21-25, Khulna
Start time 0930 (0330 GMT)

Big Picture


West Indies will press for a 2-0 win, having come back hard against Bangladesh in the final two sessions of the Mirpur Test and seizing the momentum. Though they weren't defending a big total, with enough overs for the opposition to chase it down, they were tactically far ahead of Bangladesh when it mattered. The use of the short delivery worked wonders, as Tino Best completed a maiden five-for in Tests with some hostile pace and by bowling bouncers at well. Ravi Rampaul's control and Sunil Narine's performance in the second innings, together with debutant Veerasammy Permaul's accuracy, made taking 20 wickets possible.

With the bat, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieran Powell and Denesh Ramdin got big runs, and the failures of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels didn't have a serious impact on the team.

The major highlight for Bangladesh was debutant offspinner Sohag Gazi's returns of nine wickets in the game. Rubel Hossain fought back in the second innings and Shahadat Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan had their moments, but they were inconsistent.

Bangladesh, however, will be watchful of how their batsmen react after their capitulation in the second innings. They posted their first-ever 500-plus score, in the first innings, and even gained a small lead, but the chase went poorly. Just as Bangladesh faced the prospect of a Test victory, their feet froze and West Indies took advantage. Bangladesh's plan would be to make West Indies work hard for wickets, but it still could be a stiff task on a track on which not a lot of cricket has been played recently.

Form guide


Bangladesh: LLLLD (Completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies: WWWDL

Players to watch


Mahmudullah got a half-century in the first innings but his effort in the second stood out. He withstood a barrage of short balls from Best, was hit thrice in the space of two overs, but ultimately replied with a hooked six. He survived for 83 minutes, as was the need of the hour, and made his team's highest score in the second innings.

Chris Gayle will be expected to come back hard against Bangladesh, after he was thwarted by spin in the first innings and pace in the second in Mirpur. A fast start with his strokeplay could diffuse Bangladesh's plans.

Pitch and conditions


By accounts from players and the scorecards of the last two first-class matches played here, the pitch at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna has generally been batting-friendly but is likely to offer turn on the last two days.

The weather has been unpredictable over the last two weeks. There was a cold spell earlier this month but ahead of the Test it has been hot and sultry with a threat of rain due to a depression at the Bay of Bengal nearby.

Team news


Tamim Iqbal had an elbow injury but passed a fitness test on Tuesday and will play the second Test. The team management may likely replace Junaid Siddique, the other opener, with Nazimuddin on the account of the former's struggle against the short ball and problems with slip-catching. Still, one will not be too surprised if Tamim and Anamul Haque, the batsman flown in as his cover, go out to open.

Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Nazimuddin/Anamul Haque, 3 Shahriar Nafees, 4 Naeem Islam, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Mahmudullah (vice-capt), 8 Nasir Hossain, 9 Sohag Gazi, 10 Shahadat Hossain, 11 Rubel Hossain.

Darren Sammy has hinted at continuing with the same line-up that played in the first Test. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who didn't field for much of the previous game, is fit, and the likelihood of using Fidel Edwards as a third pace bowler has diminished due to Permaul's impressive debut.

West Indies (possible): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Veerasammy Permaul, 11 Tino Best

Stats and trivia


  • Khulna will be Bangladesh's seventh Test venue.
  • The last time West Indies won four Tests in a row was between January and April of 1993 when they beat Australia home and away.

Quotes


"We had a plan to play session-by-session, take one day at a time without keeping the result in mind, although we had one poor session and that cost us the match. I hope we can do this in the Khulna Test, as it will help us in gaining consistency."
Mushfiqur Rahim says he would like his team to repeat what they did in Dhaka, but not all of it

"Last year we drew the first Test, this year we won it. We have one more Test to go and we'd do everything to win this Test match. We want to win the series 2-0."
Darren Sammy says what the target is in Khulna.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's correspondent in Bangladesh

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