Twitter Reactions: Bonner, Da Silva, Joseph and late strikes put West Indies in command against Bangladesh

West Indies were pretty much circumspect in the first day’s play with Nkrumah Bonner’s unbeaten 74, guiding them to 223 for five. But on the second day, Kraigg Brathwaite and Co expressed themselves and are in the driver’s seat. At the end of the second day’s play at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh are trailing by 350 runs with six wickets left.

Joseph shines with the bat

Bonner would have hoped for his maiden Test ton, but he perished to Mehidy Hasan Miraz after scoring 90 runs with seven fours. However, the early wicket in the day didn’t ruffle the visiting team. Joshua Da Silva and Alzarri Joseph put on 118 runs for the sixth-wicket stand. On a wearing pitch, the duo didn’t allow the Tigers to make a comeback. Da Silva ended up with a fate similar to Bonner.

After he scored 92 with 10 fours, Taijul Islam ran through his defence and castled him. At the other end, Joseph, who’s more known for his bowling, weaved magic with the bat in hand. The right-hander, who replaced Kemar Roach in the Caribbean lineup, scored 82 runs. Most importantly, he got those runs at a strike-rate of 75.93 and his knock was laced with eight fours and five sixes.

Bangladesh in trouble

It was Abu Jayed Rahi, who cut short his stay in the middle. Bangladesh, much to their relief, didn’t take much time in wrapping up the tail. Abu Jayed and Taijul were the standout bowlers for the hosts, picking up four wickets each. The other two wickets went to Soumya Sarkar and Mehidy. The Tigers had a horrendous start as Shannon Gabriel got rid of opener Sarkar for a four-ball duck.

Najmul Hossain Shanto slumped to a failure another time as he became Gabriel’s second victim. Mominul Haque and Tamim Iqbal tried to stage a comeback with a 58-run stand, but Rahkeem Cornwall separated them. The tweaker got rid of Mominul, who got 21. Tamim got out to Joseph after scoring 44. Mohammad Mithun and Mushfiqur Rahim saw their team through to the end of the day’s play.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to the day’s play:

Alzarri is the lower order batsman i always wanted WI to have in any formats. Just that the batting coach need to work with him a little more so he can know what ball to play shots and leave. #Maroonfan #westindiescricket. #BanvsWi

— Greg_mazing😁&👋 (@GregMazing) February 12, 2021

Thanks to #BanvsWI test match.. i have soemthing to keep my mind occupied ..else with this break btwn #INDvsENG .. didn't know what to do with my time..

— ROFL-India (@ROFLIndia_) February 12, 2021

Love the batting performance from the West Indies. Sorry Bonner and DeSilva didn't get to that milestone of triple figures. #BanvsWI

— 🇹🇹Marky🇹🇹 (@redman400) February 12, 2021

Alzarri Joseph scores 80+!!! What!! Really? So happy for West Indies. Really hope @windiescricket goes on to win the series.#BANvsWI

— Nakul Lolayekar (@LolayekarNakul) February 12, 2021

Mushfiqur Rahim is very good player with double ton in test cricket.. He going to help Bangladesh to score runs.. @ESPNcricinfo #BanvsWI

— Karuna prakash (@Prakash92802815) February 12, 2021

Windies getting the reward of grit and determination they have shown so far. #BanvsWI

— Sourabh®Rai🇮🇳 (@avid_soul) February 12, 2021

If you have a option to take your experienced one than don’t try any inexperienced in any crucial match #BanvsWI @BCBtigers

— niaz (@murshed_niaz) February 12, 2021

Tamim Iqbal 👀👀#BanvsWI

— #GillOP (@knight_riderr7) February 12, 2021

What a start Shanon Gabriel!
Windies stepping up and playing good cricket.#cricket #Bangladesh #BanvsWI #testcricket

— Nama (@shailendranama) February 12, 2021

Bonner and mayers. what a start in test cricket. 🙏🙏 #BanvsWI

— Lalit Thakur (@lalitthakur41) February 12, 2021