Cricket
West Indies in command
2012-11-23 08:05
Khulna - Marlon Samuels hit his highest Test
score and Darren Bravo notched a hundred to lead the West Indies to
369-3 on the third day of the second and final Test against Bangladesh
on Friday.
Samuels was still batting on 191 but Bravo fell in the
last over before lunch for 127 as the tourists trailed Bangladesh's
first innings total of 387 by just 18 runs.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul was the other unbeaten batsman on nought.
The
tourists are now set for a big lead on a lifeless Sheikh Abu Naser
Stadium pitch as they look to win the two-match series after taking a
1-0 lead with their 77-run triumph in the first Test in Dhaka.
Bravo
was adjudged leg-before off spinner Sohag Gazi as he tried to cut the
ball, which hit the pad first and then the bat. Bravo hit ten boundaries
during his 288-ball innings.
He added 326 runs for the third wicket with Samuels to set the tone for a big West Indian total.
Bangladeshi
bowlers were found wanting on the slow track and their problems were
compounded by edges falling short and a dropped catch in the slips by
Naeem Islam off paceman Abul Hasan when Samuels was on 117.
Samuels,
31, took full advantage of the lapse and bettered his previous highest
Test score of 123, which he made against New Zealand at Kingston earlier
this year.
The Jamaican has so far hit 25 fours and three sixes during his 312-ball commanding stay at the crease.
Bravo
matched his partner shot for shot, hitting two boundaries in one Rubel
Hossain over to near his fourth Test hundred, which he completed with a
double and a single.