Bangladesh lost their first Test against the West Indies in Antigua when Justin Greaves and Kemar Roach scored 140 runs for the eighth wicket in the first innings, according to skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
The West Indies were 261-7, and Bangladesh were all set to get them all out under 300. But that wasn鈥檛 the case, as Greaves got his maiden Test hundred to lift the hosts to 450 before declaring the innings with one wicket remaining.聽
鈥楾hey had a good partnership of 140鈥�150 runs after they were seven wickets down. I think the match was lost there,鈥� said Bangladesh鈥檚 stand-in captain Mehidy after the match on Tuesday.聽
Mehidy, however, couldn鈥檛 skip the fact that batters couldn鈥檛 step up to put up a fight despite getting the start but couldn鈥檛 manage to score big.
Seven of the first eight batters managed to make double digits, yet Bangladesh couldn鈥檛 pass 269.聽
鈥極bviously it was a challenge for us. We couldn鈥檛 play properly as batters; the bowlers, however, did well鈥�, Mehidy admitted.聽
鈥榃e couldn鈥檛 build partnerships; there were some partnerships but not big ones. If we could build partnerships of 100-150 runs, then the scenario could鈥檝e been different. Then the score would鈥檝e been around 400,鈥� he added.聽
Jaker Ali, who made 84 (53+31) runs in two innings and was the highest scorer of the match for Bangladesh, also said that they needed some big scores from the top order.聽
鈥楢s a batting unit, we haven鈥檛 been able to utilise the new ball. We are working on that. So we will hope that there will be big scores from the top order,鈥� Jaker said after the match.聽
Bangladesh made a surprise declaration in the first innings though they were still 181 runs behind. But the bowlers, led by Taskin Ahmed, who took his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket, did a fine job to restrict the West Indies to 152.聽
Mehidy was happy with the bowlers鈥� performance.
鈥榃e have got a good pace attack. Taskin, Hasan [Mahmud], and Nahid Rana bowled well. We have Taijul too, who bowled really well in the first innings. I am really happy with their performance.鈥�
The stand-in captain also vowed to make a strong comeback in the second Test that starts at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, on November 30.
鈥業 think we made a few mistakes [here], but that can happen鈥�, he said.
鈥榃e hope to make a strong comeback in the next match. We know what mistakes we made, and we need to come back stronger. We will have a chat among ourselves.鈥�
Apart from two Tests, Bangladesh will also play three ODIs and as many T20Is against the Caribbean side.聽
