Bangladesh spinners weave their web around Windies batsmen

A near hour-long stoppage for rain failed to prevent Bangladesh from taking control as West Indies slumped to 178 for seven in their first innings at tea in the second and final Test here on Friday.

At the break, Travis Dowlin was not out on 59 and Ryan Austin was not out on two, after Bangladesh won the toss and chose to field on the opening day of the Test at the Queen's Park Stadium Complex.

The Tigers' spinners continued to torment the West Indies' batsmen, and the home team meekly surrendered four wickets between lunch and tea. Off-spinner Mahmudullah has been Bangladesh's most successful bowler with three wickets for 27 runs from nine overs, Enamal Haque Jr has captured two for 48 from 17 overs, and stand-in captain Shakib Al Hasan has taken two for 57 from 20 overs.

Mahmudullah added to West Indies' problems in the third over after lunch, when he trapped West Indies captain Floyd Reifer lbw for one before rain stalled Bangladesh half-hour later.

The rain however, did little to put a damper on Bangladesh's enthusiasm and the spinners' hold on the West Indies' batsmen when play resumed. Shakib struck in the eighth over after the resumption, when Dave Bernard Jr cut a short ball and was caught at backward point for 17.

Next over, left-arm spinner Enamul trapped Sammy lbw for one with the first ball, and then had Chadwick Walton caught at mid-on for two off the last ball to leave West Indies 160 for seven.

At other end, Shakib could not prevent Dowlin, playing only his second Test, from reaching his 50 just before the break, when the batsman drove his 94th ball through extra cover for two.

Before lunch, Mahmudullah had grabbed two wickets in his very first over to change things dramatically and leave West Indies stumbling on 107 for three.

The off-spinner, playing in his second Test, pulled things back for Bangladesh, after West Indies made a bright start to the Test with an opening stand of 60 from their openers Dale Richards and Omar Phillips.

But Mahmudullah removed Richards for 69 and left-hander Ryan Hinds for two - both caught and bowled - in the space of three balls in the last 10 minutes before the interval to leave West Indies wobbling.

After play started half-hour later than scheduled because of damp spots on the pitch from rain water seeping through the covers, the Tigers' new-ball pair of Shahadat Hossain and Rubel Hossain were dominated by Richards, in particular, and left-hander Phillips.

But from the time Shakib, leading the side in the absence of the injured Mashrafe Mortaza, introduced spin, things began to unravel for West Indies.

Shakib, bowling his left-arm spin, made the breakthrough, when Phillips was caught at deep mid-wicket for 23, two balls after Shahadat had muffed a skier at long-on off the same bowler.

In between the Bangladesh spinners tying up the heads of the West Indies batsmen, Richards played some enterprising strokes, and reached his 50 from 64 balls, when he late cut Shakib for the 10th of his 11 fours.

In the same over, Shakib suffered punishment at the hands of Richards when the opener struck him for two more fours and then languidly lofted him straight for the first of his two sixes.

But Mahmudullah came into the attack just before the interval. After Richards greeted him by swinging his second ball through mid-wicket for his second six, the West Indies opener was deceived in flight and gave an easy return catch.

Two balls later, Mahmudullah held a second return catch, when Hinds, the only change to the home team for the match, failed to keep down a straight drive.

Bangladesh made one change to their side with Enamul replacing Mortaza. Appointed Bangladesh captain for this trip, Mortaza fell clumsily on his right knee when bowling during the first Test in St. Vincent.

Bangladesh lead the two-Test series 1-0, after they won the opening Test which ended last Monday in St. Vincent by 95 runs.

The Tigers need only to draw the match to fulfill a long-held dream of their first-ever Test series victory overseas.