West Indies reached lunch on 86 for three after 26 overs in Sylhet on Thursday, a recovery led by debutant Kevin Wickham and Amir Jangoo after Bangladesh’s pacers took three wickets in the first hour.
Taskin Ahmed finished with two for 36.
Taskin bowled the last over before lunch and Wickham hit a boundary off him, lifting the stand with Jangoo to 50 off 101 balls. Taskin then overstepped, his third no-ball of the match and the 52nd of his 22-Test career, and the session ended there.
Wickham was unbeaten on 27 off 60 balls with three fours, Jangoo on 32 off 54 with four. Their stand reached 59 off 106, and West Indies lost no wicket in the second hour despite several edges falling short or missing the stumps.
Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz bowled 10 overs between them without reward, Miraz conceding 13 and Taijul three, which raised the question of whether a third fast bowler would have been wiser, on a pitch that helped the quicks early.
Hasan Mahmud had both batters in trouble in the 17th and 18th overs. One Jangoo edge reached Litton Das only after bouncing, the next delivery took an inside edge past the stumps, and Wickham’s edged cut went past Shadman Islam at second slip for four.
An earlier Taskin no-ball had saved Jangoo, a caught-behind appeal ruled out by the siren when West Indies were 50 for three after 13 overs. It was Taskin’s second no-ball in the first 13 overs, after one in his first over of the match.
Joshua Da Silva was the third to go, lbw to Taskin for 12 off 17 balls with West Indies on 28 for three after nine overs. He had survived on nought when Shadman Islam dropped him at slip, and he walked off without a review.
Kavem Hodge, who had left one ball confidently, lost his stumps to the next from Hasan Mahmud, a back-of-a-length delivery that nipped in and skidded through to hit the top of middle. Hodge made one off 10 balls, and West Indies were 16 for two.
Taskin broke the opening stand in the fifth over, bowling Brandon King with a full delivery that swung in and kept moving. King, who made nine off 18, was beaten trying to flick through midwicket. West Indies were 14 for one.
Wickham, West Indies’ 349th Test cricketer, arrived with a strong domestic record, including centuries in each of his last three innings of the West Indies Championship, 105, 153 and an unbeaten 108. He averages 40.88 across 25 first-class matches, with six hundreds.
West Indies captain Roston Chase won the toss and chose to bat on an overcast morning, with Bangladesh trailing 1-0 after the first Test in Mirpur.
Bangladesh made two changes. Mushfiqur Rahim returned for the concussed Mominul Haque and Taskin Ahmed came in for Shoriful Islam, with three spinners and two fast bowlers again. West Indies handed Wickham a debut and recalled Da Silva, leaving out John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul.