BAN vs WI, 2nd Test — Day 5 Result: Match Drawn, West Indies Win the Series 1-0 as Hridoy's 82 Follows His 242*

Some draws are dull, and some are earned. This one was earned, and mostly by one man. Towhid Hridoy came into the last day with 242 not out already in the book, the innings that had dragged Bangladesh back into a Test they looked like losing. On Monday he was asked to do something harder and less glamorous: bat through a fifth-day afternoon with West Indies sensing a second win of the series. He made 82 off 140 balls, and when he was finally bowled after tea, the danger had mostly passed.

That gave him 324 runs in the match, the first time a Bangladesh batter has gone past 300 in a single Test, beyond Mominul Haque's 281 against Sri Lanka in 2018. He is also the first Bangladesh batter to make a fifty in the same Test as a double-hundred. The numbers are big, but the second innings was about something smaller and more stubborn: not giving Warrican the one more wicket that would have opened the door.

West Indies did exactly what a side 1-0 up and 315 ahead should do. They batted ten more overs, scored 53, and declared at 398 for 6. Kavem Hodge, unbeaten on 140 overnight, added two before he was caught off Nayeem Hasan for a career-best 142. Justin Greaves (9) and Shamar Joseph (1) went quickly, Joshua Bishop hit 20 off 11 balls, and Amir Jangoo finished on 39 not out, a quiet end to a Test in which he also made 133 and kept wicket in the Bangladesh innings.

The target was 369. Nobody expected Bangladesh to chase it, so the real question was whether West Indies could take ten wickets. Warrican made it a live one before lunch. Tanzid Hasan hit him for four through midwicket, Warrican moved Joshua Da Silva a few steps, and the next ball went straight to him. Then Najmul Hossain Shanto played back to one that spun in, was given not out, and West Indies reviewed successfully. At 40 for 2, with 54 overs left, there was a game on.

Warrican finished with 3 for 44 from 18 overs, seven wickets in the match, and the Player of the Series award. When he bowled Hridoy around his legs, it was his 100th Test wicket, making him only the second left-arm spinner to reach that mark for West Indies after Alf Valentine. Then Shamar Joseph produced the ball of the day, one that moved from middle to off and bowled Mushfiqur for 49. By then it was too late. West Indies leave unbeaten in every Test series they have played this calendar year, which, per ESPNcricinfo, they had not managed since 1994.

Bangladesh can take real things from this Test. Hridoy has announced himself as a Test batter of substance, Hasan Mahmud's 6 for 90 on the first day was the best bowling of the match, and Mushfiqur became the first Bangladesh batter to 7,000 Test runs when he reached 9 on Monday. Their stand of 135 for the third wicket was the most patient batting of the day.

But the series was lost in Mirpur, and here too Bangladesh spent most of the match responding. They let West Indies recover from 27 for 3 on the first morning to 356, and they took only three wickets on the fourth day while West Indies scored 338. With the bowlers worn down and their captain, vice-captain and wicketkeeper all hit by blows in the field on day four, holding on was the best available result. They now have five days before a Test in Johannesburg starting November 15, in very different conditions.

Sylhet gave the seamers something on the first morning, when West Indies lost three wickets for 27, and Hasan Mahmud took six wickets that day. After that it was a surface for batters who were willing to wait. The spinners got some turn on the last day, enough for Warrican to trouble the top order, but not enough to run through a side batting with care. Bad light took the last overs: the umpires stopped play at 3.45pm local time and the match was called off at 4pm. It was the first drawn Test in Bangladesh since May 2022, 18 Tests ago.

The 242 not out will be the innings people remember, with its 22 fours and 11 sixes and the 117-run eighth-wicket stand with Taijul Islam that turned a deficit into a lead. The 82 says as much about him. He began the fourth innings with Bangladesh 40 for 2 and a left-arm spinner settling into his rhythm on a fifth-day pitch. He reached his fifty with a boundary off Joshua Bishop and stayed for 140 balls. He was not trying to win the match. He was trying to make sure it could not be lost, and he did it.

Our preview did not call a winner. It said Bangladesh needed a complete performance in a must-win game, and that West Indies could play with freedom because a draw would secure the series. The second part was right: the draw gave West Indies the series. The first part was not met, because Bangladesh never got on top for long enough to force a win. We expected Sylhet to help the seamers early, and on day one it did, with Hasan Mahmud taking six. We did not see the batting feast that followed, with 1,324 runs scored across the five days.

West Indies finish their World Test Championship cycle with a 1-0 series win away from home, and with Hodge, Jangoo and the debutant Kevin Wickham all making big scores here. Bangladesh go straight to South Africa for a Test in Johannesburg from November 15. Watch how Hridoy handles pace and bounce there, and whether the players hurt in Sylhet, Shadman Islam among them, are fit in time.