Opening batsman John Campbell completed his first Test half-century in the Caribbean as the West Indies completed a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh on the fourth morning of the first Test in Antigua on Sunday. Resuming at 49 for three and needing just 35 more runs at the start of the day in pursuit of a modest target of 84, Campbell dominated the scoring alongside vice-captain Jermaine Blackwood (26 not out).
He completed his third Test half-century overall with a sweep for four before sealing the result emphatically with a six over long-off in the same over from part-time off-spinner Najmul Hossain.
Any slim Bangladesh hopes of creating further alarms in the West Indies camp never materialized as seamer Khaled Ahmed, who grabbed three early wickets late on the third day to reduce the home side to nine for three, proved as ineffective as the other bowlers used by captain Shakib Al Hasan.
Having batted the previous evening carefully to steady the innings, Campbell and Blackwood batted with complete freedom in knocking off the remaining runs off seven overs in less than half an hour in an unbroken 79-run stand.
For Shakib, returning to the Test side as captain, the early batting capitulation at the start of the Test match was the defining factor in the final
“That one session killed the game for us,” was his frank assessment at the end of the match in looking back on the first morning of the match on Thursday when Bangladesh lost six wickets before lunch on the way to being routed for 103.
“We were always behind the game from that point. It is not at all acceptable. We’ve been doing this quite regularly now in our last four-five Test matches.
“Our batsman need to find ways to survive, to stay at the wicket and get runs. Then the bowlers will have a chance of winning the match for us.”
