Shadman holds firm as Bangladesh reach 96-2 at Lunch

Bangladesh lost a couple of wickets and put up 96 runs on the board in an evenly matched morning session on Day 1 of the first Test against the West Indies at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Wednesday.

Opener Shadman Islam lost two partners but remained unbeaten on 42 with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto keeping him company at the other end on 15.

For the visitors, pacer Jayden Seales reaped the reward of sustained pressure while off-spinner was gifted a wicket by Mominul Haque.

Opting to bat first, the Bangladesh openers began cautiously, dealing with extra bounce extracted by the Caribbean pacers from the fresh wicket.

Tanzid Hasan Tamim, after crawling to seven off 22 balls, pushed at a ball moving away against Seales and was caught at second slip.

Mominul came to the crease in the seventh over. He looked shaky at first, but slowly found his groove and, along with Shadman, steadied the innings.

The duo added 59 runs for the second wicket and were 30 minutes away from taking the side into Lunch without any more damage.

But Mominul, soon after completing 11,000 runs in first-class cricket, lost his composure. He tried to chip left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican over mid-off but could not get the timing right, getting caught by Joshua Bishop for 28.

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto then joined Shadman, and their partnership remained unbroken on 28 at the break.