BAN vs WI, 2nd Test — Day 2 Stumps: Bangladesh 88/3, Trail by 268, After Hasan Mahmud's Six Cannot Stop West Indies Reaching 356

Hasan Mahmud had the kind of morning fast bowlers dream about and still ended the day on the losing side of it. He took four wickets on Day 2, six in the innings, and twice in two balls looked to have turned the Test. West Indies made 356 anyway, and by bad light Bangladesh were 88 for 3, 268 behind, with one opener stretchered off in the field and a stand-in opener already back in the hut.

That is the shape of this Test now. West Indies need only a draw to take the series. Bangladesh need to win, and they need 69 more runs just to make sure they are not asked to follow on.

Jangoo and Greaves took their stand past 100 early, and West Indies were 264 for 4 when the new ball was taken in the 81st over. It did the job at once. Mahmud went wide of the crease from around the wicket, hit a length and brought it back sharply. Jangoo shouldered arms and lost his off stump for 133, an innings of 212 balls, 13 fours and two sixes. Next ball, Roston Chase pushed at one that came back in, got an inside edge, and Litton Das took it to his left. Mahmud thought he had a hat-trick when Joshua Bishop was given lbw next up, but the review showed an inside edge.

Bishop did not last much longer. With Litton standing up to the stumps, he reached out to drive, lifted his back foot and was stumped for 23, giving Mahmud his five-wicket haul. Mehidy Hasan Miraz then bowled Greaves for 51 first ball of his new spell, the first wicket of the match for a spinner, and West Indies were 301 for 8. Mahmud bowled Shamar Joseph for 16 for his sixth, and at lunch it was 322 for 8.

Bangladesh could not finish it. Warrican and Seales added 33 for the last wicket over more than eleven overs, surviving one Bangladesh review each, before Mehidy had Seales lbw for 15. West Indies' last four batters added 81 between them, and that number grew in importance by the hour.

Shadman Islam had been stretchered off with an ankle injury while fielding at the start of the day, so Nayeem Hasan, the offspinner, walked out to open in a Test for the first time. He lasted six balls, edging Seales to Brandon King. Tanzid Hasan was tied down for four maidens in a row, and when he tried to break out he toe-ended Greaves to cover, where Wickham dived to his right. Bangladesh went to tea at 36 for 2.

Soon after tea, Shamar Joseph seamed one away from a forward-pressing Najmul Hossain Shanto and hit the top of off. The captain made 18 off 65, and Bangladesh were 51 for 3. Mushfiqur went 35 balls without a boundary before he found one, Warrican got a fingertip to a hard caught-and-bowled chance from Hridoy on 12, and Seales gave both batters a working-over with the short ball. The pair survived, a West Indies review against Mushfiqur came back umpire's call, and the light closed in at 88 for 3. Their stand is 37 unbeaten off 104 balls.

Bangladesh did plenty right with the ball. Mahmud's 6 for 90 is a fine piece of fast bowling, and Litton's glovework, standing up to a seamer, was a lovely piece of skill. But 264 for 4 to 301 for 8 should have meant a total near 310, and the last-wicket stand added a full 33 on top of the 22 for the ninth. Then the top order went the way it has gone too often: an emergency opener, a stuck opener, and a captain bowled playing forward.

For West Indies it was a quietly good day. They lost six wickets in the morning and still have 356 on the board. Their seamers were tight, Joseph went at under three an over and Greaves gave up ten runs in six, and Warrican bowled 12 overs for 19. With a 1-0 lead, time is now on their side.

The new ball was the big story. Mahmud and Joseph both got it to move off the seam, and seven of the day's nine wickets went to seamers. Even Mehidy's wicket of Greaves came from a ball that held its line rather than turned. Batting was hard work for anyone new, but Hridoy and Mushfiqur showed it can be done once settled. Bad light ended play early again.

Over two days, 24 overs and 6 for 90. Four bowled, one caught behind, one stumped with the keeper up. The pattern was a seamer working the angle: wide of the crease, the ball brought back into the stumps, the batter left guessing whether to play or leave. Jangoo left one and lost his off stump. Chase played and edged. On a day when his side ended up behind, Mahmud was the one Bangladeshi who looked like he could win them this Test by himself.

Our preview picked out Hasan Mahmud as the bowler who might benefit most from Sylhet's help for seamers, and six wickets is about as clear a confirmation as we could ask for. The wider point, that the seamers would do more here than the spinners, also held on Day 2. Our team-sheet misses, covered in the Day 1 report, still stand.

Bangladesh need 157 to make West Indies bat again, so the first target for Hridoy and Mushfiqur is 69 more runs. Litton and Mehidy are still to come. Watch Seales and Joseph in the first hour with a ball that is 40 overs old, watch whether Shadman can bat at all, and watch the sky, which has now ended both days early.