Catches Win Matches
Fahmida Waliullah

Bangladesh overall had a very good day today. We all hope it does not turn out in such a way on Day Three; and if there is a Day Four then on Day Four that demoralizes the good team spirit that the Bangladesh team has now.

But things could have better if not for all the catches that had gone down. On Day One, West Indies have given away about 50 runs to the Bangladesh total after bowling badly and while Bangladesh was fielding, the fielders and poor captancy between lunch and tea gave away about 50 runs. The spinners, particularly Enamul Haque and Mohammad Ashraful gave away few more runs than they should have.

But the other two sessions - the morning session and the evening session went in favor of Bangladesh, but the afternoon session had gave the West Indies a substantial lead of over one hundred runs. Also, two West Indian batsman Darren Ganga and Ridley Jacobs scored fifties.

In the last session, Bangladesh openers Al Shahriar and Hannan Sarkar batted well enough to resist the temptation to go for their shots and get out in the process. Besides, they have also put up a 40 run partnership yet again - the fourth highest opening partnership for Bangladesh in test matches until today. But what they and the rest of the Bangladesh batsman will have to look at is that the game will begin half hour early than the scheduled start and like today, tomorrow also there could be a lot of assistance for the fast bowlers in the morning session.

But in the context of the game, some fifties would not be bad from the top order and the middle order batsman.

Tapash Baisya, Talha Jubair and Monjurul Islam - the three seamers bowled really well, but there is the fear for their injury. Tapash Baisya may have a problem on his left thigh, Talha Jubair is probably injured in his left hamstring and Monjurul Islam did not look hundred percent fit when he came back to bowl when the new ball was taken after tea. I wonder how this would affect the team combination and the team's performance in the world cup.

In short, Bangladesh will have to finish the match in a good way and this certainly does not have to be either a win or a draw. If this happens, then the players can say to themselves that yes, they are learning and that they belong here. Before the next international match against Canada in the world cup, that is vital.

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