Bravo ton puts Windies in control

Cricket

Bravo ton puts Windies in control

Close

Darren Bravo cracked his maiden Test century to put West Indies in command.

31 October,2011 05:55 pm

On the third day of the series-deciding second and final Test against Bangladesh on Monday, the left-hander was unbeaten on 100 after Kirk Edwards hit a solid 86 as the West Indies reached 207-3 in their second innings at stumps for an overall lead of 331 runs.Bravo completed his century off the last ball of the day when he cut debutant left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo for two runs. He has so far hit two sixes and seven fours in his 165-ball knock.The tourists, leading by 124 runs on the first innings, consolidated their position as Bravo and Edwards put on 151 for the third wicket after openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Keiran Powell had fallen cheaply.The opening Test of the two-match series ended in a draw in Chittagong.I am very happy with my effort, the 22-year-old Bravo said. I just tried to play the right shots and waited for the loose balls to put them away.There was not too much turn in the wicket. Maybe one or two balls did turn, but the ball came on well onto the bat.I dont see too much deterioration in the wicket. Tomorrow is another day, we will go out there to continue batting and put on a big target for Bangladesh to chase, he said.Bangladesh coach Stuart Law said his team faced a tough fight to save the game.At the moment it is not going the way we wanted it to, the former Australian international said. A mediocre batting performance in the first innings ruined our plans.We are not really controlling the game. We have them three wickets down, but they lead us by over 300 runs. Its going to take a lot of hard work to come back into the match.We need to find a way to score runs, we need to find a way to stay a long time at the crease, said Law.Edwards, who scored 121 in the first innings, looked set to score his second hundred of the Test when he fell in the closing overs of the day, bowled by Shuvo after hitting one six and seven fours in his 204-ball knock.Bravo, dropped on 45 by Imrul Kayes in the slips off left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan, made the most of the chance as he bolstered the innings with a big stand with Edwards.Both the batsmen played attractive shots, with Bravo once smashing off-spinner Nasir Hossain for two fours and a six in an over and then Edwards hoisting paceman Shahadat Hossain for a six.Brathwaite, who made a half-century in the first innings, was run out for no score in the opening over after Naeem Islam hit the stumps at the non-strikers end with a direct throw.The hosts struggled for success on an easy-paced pitch for more than two sessions, with Shakib and Shuvo being the lone wicket-takers.Bangladesh were earlier bowled out for 231 in their first innings in reply to the West Indies 355.The hosts added 27 runs to their overnight total of 204-7 before losing their remaining three wickets in 17 overs, with leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo taking two wickets and off-spinner Marlon Samuels one.