ICC World Test Championship Point Table: Bangladesh registered its first Test win in West Indies after 15 years. In the second test played at Sabina Park, Bangladesh defeated host West Indies by 101 runs. Zakir Ali’s brilliant inning of 91 runs in the second innings gave West Indies a target of 287 runs to win. After this, left arm spinner Taijul Islam bowled lethally and took 5 wickets and all out the West Indies team for 185 runs. West Indies defeated Bangladesh by 201 runs in the first match of the series. While Bangladesh won the second match, the two-match Test series, which was part of the ICC World Test Championship, ended in a 1-1 draw.
Bangladesh’s Taijul Islam, who took 5 wickets for 50 runs, became the hero of the match. This was his 15th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Taijul’s bowling on the fourth day gave Bangladesh its first Test win in the Caribbean since July 2009. After this brilliant performance, Taijul said, “It is very special to win a Test match abroad, which we are not able to do often. All the players worked hard.”
After this victory, Bangladesh achieved eighth position in the ICC World Test Championship rankings. Before this victory, Bangladesh was at the last position in the table of 9 teams. He had 33 points in 11 matches with 3 wins and 8 losses. Bangladesh’s winning percentage was 25, while West Indies was at 9th position in the points table. West Indies had 32 points in 10 matches with 2 wins and 6 losses.
After the win against West Indies, Bangladesh’s win percentage has now reached 31.25, while West Indies’ win percentage has fallen to 24.24. India is still at first place in the table, while South Africa is at second and Australia is at third place. Let us tell you, Bangladesh and West Indies are already out of the race to reach the final of the ICC World Test Championship.
Whereas India, South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka, who are on top in the points table, are still in the race to reach the finals. India, who lead the Border-Gavaskar Test series 1-0, will easily qualify for the final if they register a 4-0 win against Australia.
Taijul made headlines for Bangladesh by taking 5/50 in the second innings, but his other teammates also had a big contribution in this victory. Fast bowler Nahid Rana took the first five-wicket haul of his Test career by taking 5-61 in the first innings. Taskin Ahmed bowled consistently well and was adjudged the joint best player of the series. At the same time, Zakir Ali scored an important 91 runs and set the target of 287 runs for West Indies.
Kavem Hodge (55) and captain Kraigg Brathwaite (43) struggled for the host team, but Taijul gave Bangladesh a memorable victory on the fourth day by taking a wicket at the right time. After this defeat, West Indies captain Craig Brathwaite said that we wanted to be positive and I think we had a good start but of course we could not continue it further and at the end of the day it was a disappointing performance.
