Taijul Islam bagged his 15th five-wicket haul in Test cricket while Jaker Ali played his career-best knock as Bangladesh registered a memorable series-levelling 101-win over the West Indies on the fourth evening of the second and final Test at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, on Tuesday.聽
This was Bangladesh鈥檚 first win in the Caribbean in 15 years and their third away win in 2024, their highest in a year.
Bangladesh thus completed a remarkable turnaround after being dismissed for 164 in the first innings of the Test. This was the lowest first innings total for them where they have won, with the previous lowest being 220 against England at Mirpur in 2016.聽
鈥業t is something that these young players were looking forward to. It is nice to see them come back in their way after losing the first Test match. It is a total joy for me,鈥� an overjoyed Bangladesh head coach, Phil Simmons, told TV broadcasters after the match.
The win came when Nahid Rana, who captured five wickets in the first innings, clean bowled Shamar Joseph with a yorker.聽
Simmons was full of praise for the 22-year-old pace sensation who bowled above 140 kph regularly and hit the length consistently.聽
鈥榃e underrated the young fast bowler鈥檚 ability to assess the situation. The things he tells me before taking the field make me wonder if this is his fourth or fifth Test match,鈥� said Simmons.
鈥楬e is impressive with pace, but also with his hunger to learn. He keeps growing, and I am sure we will see a lot more of him,鈥� added the former West Indies opener.聽
But it was the experienced left-arm spinner Taijul who demonstrated all his variations to get the better of the home team batters.
He grabbed four of the first five wickets that fell when they were chasing a big target of 287 on a difficult pitch.聽
Taijul鈥檚 scalps include Kavem Hodge (55) and Kraigg Brathwaite (43)鈥攖he hosts鈥� two top scorers.聽
Simmons hailed Taijul as a thinking bowler.聽
鈥楾aijul loves hitting the stumps, so he bowls more arm balls than (conventional) spinners. He seems to be getting better every game. You could see that there was more thought in his bowling here in every session,鈥� he said.聽
Stand-in captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz rotated his bowlers effectively as Bangladesh got their expected breakthroughs before the hosts could pose any threat.
Taskin Ahmed, who was later adjudged joint player of the series along with West Indies鈥� Jayden Seales, took two wickets. Another pacer Hasan Mahmud also grabbed two.
All of those came on the back of a superb innings by Jaker, who unleashed everything against the West Indian bowlers in his 91 off 106 balls.聽
He scored 62 out of the team鈥檚 75 runs in the first session of the fourth day. Jaker now has as many fifty-plus innings in his first three Tests鈥攕econd Bangladeshi after Zakir Hasan to do so.
Jaker hit eight fours and five sixes鈥攁lso the second highest for a Bangladeshi batter in an away Test innings.聽
鈥楯aker scored three fifties in successive Tests, so he knows his game,鈥� said Simmons.
鈥榃e saw that he can also take on every bowler. He needs to take what he gets from here and try to improve on it. This is not always going to be the way it is.鈥�
Jaker finished what Shahadat Hossain, Shadman Islam, and Mehidy started on the third day with an aggressive intent to put the hosts under pressure.聽
Simmons loved that too. He said, 鈥業 loved the way the batters came out with a positive attitude. They had a survival attitude in the first few games.鈥�
鈥榊esterday [Monday], you saw that they were saying, 鈥淚 have come to play the game.鈥� I loved and enjoyed it. I made sure that they know that it is the way we have to play from now on,鈥� Simmons added.聽
The teams will now move to St Kitts, where the three-match ODI series will be played with the first match on December 8.