West Indies were eventually dismissed in their first innings for 265 after tea, having started the morning at 95 for two. Captain Kraigg Brathwaite anchored his side's effort with a typically painstaking 400-minute knock of 94, supported by 63 from Jermaine Blackwood, the vice-captain taking a page from his leader's operational manual as the contribution was the slowest of his 16 Test half-centuries.
For the Bangladeshis, forced onto the back foot after being routed for 103 just after lunch on day one, Brathwaite's dismissal triggered their brightest period of play with the home side losing their last seven wickets for 68 runs. While it was seamer Khaled Ahmed who initiated the slide by consigning the home skipper to his fifth ninety in Test cricket, Mehidy Hasan then stole the show in claiming four of the last six wickets to fall either side of the tea interval.
He also took a sharp catch at short extra-cover as Blackwood became the ninth wicket to fall in pursuit of quick runs. However Mehidy's personal delight, and his team's cautious satisfaction at limiting the West Indies first innings advantage to a still considerable 165 runs, quickly dissipated when senior opener Tamim Iqbal and Mehidy himself fell to Alzarri Joseph.
That left Mahmudul Hasan and Najmul Hossain to carry the fight into the third morning. Despite his excellent century against the same opponents in Chattogram 17 months earlier, the fact that the Bangladesh 'think-tank' felt it appropriate to send in Mehidy with more than half an hour's play available seemed a telling revelation on their own confidence, or lack thereof, in the resilience of the established middle-order batsman.
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