Russell, Carter put West Indies A in driver's seat

Andre Russell's five-wicket haul coupled with Jonathan Carter's late blitz gave West Indies A the upper hand in the second unofficial Test against Bangladesh A in St Lucia. But on a pitch where 33 wickets have fallen over three days, the hosts will need to work hard to make the remaining 75 runs they need for victory, even though they have seven wickets in hand.

Russell gave his side a dream start to the day, ripping out both Bangladesh A openers for the addition of just one run to their overnight score. His two wickets sandwiched Shuvagata Hom's dismissal for a duck, lbw to Shannon Gabriel. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals after that. The middle order was able to get starts, but none of the batsmen were able to turn them into sizeable scores. Russell picked up three more wickets, including those of Nasir Hossain (29) and Mithun Ali (26), who added 45 for the seventh wicket, the largest partnership of the innings. Legspinner Veerasammy Permaul then wrapped up proceedings with two wickets in one over, leaving West Indies A needing 214 to chase. Russell finished with 5 for 36, giving him match figures of 9 for 78.

The hosts lost two early wickets but after Danza Hyatt and Nkruma Bonner (21) had steadied the innings, Jonathan Carter came out and attacked the bowling, racing to 45 from just 46 balls, including five fours and two sixes. Together with Hyatt, who was steadfast at the other end, he added 66 vital runs, the highest partnership of the match so far. Hyatt was not out on 52 and West Indies A now have an excellent chance of claiming the series on the final day.