West Indies advantage after opening day of 1st Test; Louis and Athanaze fall prey to the edgy 90s – India TV

A few wickets for just 25 runs? Bangladesh would have thought their decision to bowl first after winning the toss was a genius move until Mikyle Louis and Alick Alick Athanaze put their heads down and took it upon themselves to bail West Indies out of a sticky situation. The duo not only steadied the ship for the West Indies, but the 140-run stand for the fourth wicket also helped the hosts take some control over the first innings of the first of the two Tests against Bangladesh in Antigua.

Taskin Ahmed dismissed West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite and Keacy Carty for a duck in consecutive overs to push the hosts onto the back foot early. Kavem Hodge, the England centurion, did the repair job quite well alongside Louis who was really solid as he has been in the few matches since the start of his career.

Hodge was out after scoring 25, but he bowled 63 deliveries and that was crucial. Louis held a volley before Alick Athanaze connected with him to win the match for Bangladesh. While Louis remained vigilant throughout his innings, playing the ball on merit, respecting the good ones and not missing boundary balls, Athanaze was a little more aggressive and had a better intention of taking the attack towards the opposition .

Louis and Athanaze both raised fifties and West Indies passed 200. It looked like both would manage to take West Indies to the stumps and complete their respective centuries until their dream was cut short for both of them by Bangladesh spinners.

The 140-run stand was broken by captain Mehidy Hasan as Louis failed to make his maiden Test hundred. Three overs later, Taijul Islam dismissed the set’s other batter Athanaze as Bangladesh heaved a sigh of relief at the stumps. However, West Indies already have 250 runs on the board and even if they get 70-80 runs with five wickets in the bag, Bangladesh will have a tough task ahead given their poor performances in the last two series.

With both teams out of the World Test Championship (WTC) final race, the series is crucial for the confidence of both sides and being able to find players who can survive in Test cricket.