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Match facts

Bangladesh v West Indies, October 21, Chittagong
Start time 0930 (0330 GMT)Shivnarine Chanderpaul will be the key to holding West Indies’ batting together•Associated Press

Big Picture

When it comes to matches in Chittagong, the weather is always a concern. The drainage at the ground is so bad that Zimbabwe’s coach Alan Butcher once suggested even football matches would be called off because of the soggy field. With rain forecast on two of the three days of the Test, it is likely that chunks of play will be lost.The way some of the Bangladesh and West Indies batsmen bat, though, three days could provide a result. Over the first two ODIs, Bangladesh were either too cautious or too reckless with the bat, and in the third the West Indies batsmen made the Chittagong pitch look like a pot-holed filled road and Bangladesh’s spinners like Pradeep Mathew from the .West Indies will have reinforcements in the form of the experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Kirk Edwards, who scored a hundred on Test debut. Bangladesh’s addition to the batting line-up, Raqibul Hasan, doesn’t inspire as much confidence with his Test average of 19.14.Bangladesh have won only one Test at home, back in 2005, against Zimbabwe at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong. This is as good a chance as they are going to get in the near future – their next two Test series are against Pakistan, who are looking a strong side in Abu Dhabi. Here, they have West Indies coming into the match after the embarrassing 61 all out in the last one-dayer; they’re at a venue that has brought some big wins recently; and they have a new captain, who the team seems to have instantly taken to.For West Indies, this is a must-win Test. Despite the sometimes farcical events off the pitch, and the fact that their biggest stars are Twenty20 cricketers who don’t play Twenty20 cricket for West Indies, their Test form has not been that poor. Over their home season, they won one and lost two of five Tests, a respectable performance considering three of those games were against then world No. 1 India. Anything less than a win here would be a major setback for Darren Sammy, who has quietly started turning around people’s opinions on his surprise appointment as captain. They have the pace to unsettle Bangladesh and their young legspinner Devendra Bishoo is the reigning ICC Emerging Player of the Year. The question is whether their batsmen can figure out how to play half-decent spin bowling.

Form guide

Bangladesh: LLLLL
West Indies: DDLLW

In the spotlight

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has more Test runs than the entire Bangladesh squad combined. In an inexperienced team, whether or not Chanderpaul can grind it out in testing conditions will be a major determinant in West Indies’ fortunes.Though he is only 25, Shahriar Nafees seems like he has been around for ages. It was in 2006 that he created waves with a century against the might of Australia. He never quite lived up to that early promise, but now, with Mohammad Ashraful dropped, Nafees has a chance to be the anchor of the team’s batting.

Team news

All the talk about Bangladesh’s squad has been about Ashraful’s exclusion and his reaction. Without Ashraful, Raqibul can be expected to play in the middle order. Nasir Hossain and Elias Sunny are expected to debut with Abdur Razzak dropped. Shahadat Hossain has the experience of 29 Tests and should fill in for the injured Shafiul Islam as the second seamer alongside Rubel Hossain.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Shahriar Nafees, 4 Raqibul Hasan, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim, 7 Naeem Islam, 8 Nasir Hossain, 9 Elias Sunny, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Shahadat Hossain.Lendl Simmons replaced the injured Adrian Barath in the Test squad and, after a good one-day series, should make the XI. The other opener’s position is between the 18-year-old Kraigg Brathwaite and 21-year-old Kieran Powell, each of whom have played just a single Test. Carlton Baugh should keep the wicketkeeper’s spot in the Test side after impressing behind the stumps against India. West Indies opted for Fidel Edwards to share the new ball with Ravi Rampaul in the series against India, but Kemar Roach is also an option.West Indies (probable): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Kieran Powell/Kraigg Brathwaite, 3 Kirk Edwards, 4 Darren Bravo 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Carlton Baugh, 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Fidel Edwards, 11 Devendra Bishoo.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch during the one-day match in Chittagong was sluggish and turned. Even the slightest amount of rain leaves the outfield wet and slow, making the conditions difficult for run-scoring. Showers are expected on the first two days of the Test, but the weather is expected to improve from Sunday.

Stats & Trivia

• Out of the eight Tests played at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, four were won by the team batting first, and three by the side batting second. The team that lost the toss won five matches.
• Ravi Rampaul has taken a wicket within the first ten overs in seven of the last nine innings in which he has opened the bowling.

Quotes

“That was a game with the one-day team. Our minds have now changed quickly towards the Tests. Obviously, we finished the one-day series a bit of a low, but it’s also a fact that we won a one-day series away from home for the first time since 2007.”
.”We have got the potential. We need to score more runs at the top of the order. We go into the Test knowing this surface suits us and that gives us confidence.”
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ScorecardLeicestershire ended day two of their County Championship Division Two clash against Middlesex facing the prospect of an innings defeat after England captain Andrew Strauss claimed his maiden first-class double century at Lord’s.The visitors were dismissed shortly before the scheduled close for 193 in reply to Middlesex’s 496 for 2 declared, the highlight of which was Strauss’ unbeaten 241 off 344 balls. Led by Steven Crook with 4 for 45 and Tim Murtagh (3 for 41), the Middlesex attack made life extremely difficult for Leicestershire, who seem certain to be asked to follow on in the morning.The visitors began hesitantly, with Will Jefferson in particular struggling against the moving ball. Matthew Boyce cover drove Corey Collymore for four before despatching Murtagh to the fence at extra cover. However in the 15th over, having just driven Murtagh for four, Jefferson edged behind to make it 42 for 1.It took Greg Smith 33 balls to find the boundary. But in Ollie Rayner’s second over the 22-year-old sought to take advantage of the short distance to the Mound Stand, only to chip the ball up to Dawid Malan at mid-wicket.The visitors were 86 for 2 at tea, but that became 101 for 5 when Steven Crook picked up three wickets in 10 balls. James Taylor was bowled before, two overs later, Josh Cobb was trapped leg before. In Crook’s next over Boyce, who made 46 in 122 deliveries, had his bails trimmed by the 28- year-old allrounder to leave Leicestershire reeling.Ned Eckersley (28) and Wayne White (37) then added 50 in nine overs for the sixth wicket before Eckersley was caught behind off Toby Roland-Jones. Ten overs later White, falling away to the off side, went lbw to Collymore to spark another collapse, which saw Rob Taylor slap Murtagh straight to short extra cover, Nathan Buck edge to third slip and Matthew Hoggard lose his off stump.Earlier in the day, Strauss registered the highest score by a Middlesex batsman at Lord’s for 12 years as the home side bumped their first-innings total up to 496 for two, before declaring at lunch.Strauss took 40 minutes converting his unbeaten 184 overnight into a maiden double century, as Hoggard beat the outside edge of the England captain’s bat on a number of occasions. But in the 10th over of the day Strauss brought up the landmark with a crisply pulled four off Buck. His double hundred had come from 282 balls and it included 21 fours and two sixes.Malan played some attractive shots to move into the 40s, but, on 47, fell to a catch at slip off a skied pull. That ushered in Chris Rogers, who deposited both White and Cobb in the Mound Stand for sixes on his way to a run-a-ball 33.

Scorecard
Alex Hales provided more evidence that Nottinghamshire’s long search for a consistently productive opening partnership is at least half complete but Durham emerged in better shape than they might have expected from a day that threatened to put their title challenge under real pressure, even though they have some work to do after closing on 44 for 3 on a surface producing some disconcertingly variable bounce.Presented with a pitch not much more than a firm push from the boundary on the Bridgford Road side, Notts captain Chris Read took the decision to bat first for only the second time at Trent Bridge this summer. As the day unfolded, it seemed he may have been thinking as much about not batting last, but one would imagine he would have wanted to give his bowlers at least 320 to defend.Instead, Notts fell 50 runs short of that, scraping a second batting point thanks only to a boisterous cameo from Darren Pattinson, who celebrated his recall under the county’s fast-bowler rotation policy by smashing three sixes in his 18-ball 28.Hales made his second century of the season, indeed his second in his last three Championship innings here, which will please Mick Newell even more given this ground’s reputation as a graveyard for opening batsmen. No problem has etched more lines on the face of the Notts director of cricket than the search for a winning combination at the top of the order but Hales at least seems to have got Trent Bridge’s measure.His 115 took his aggregate in the 2011 Championship to 795 from 10 matches at 49.68. He had a few hairy moments and should have been out on 96 when he steered a ball from Mitch Claydon into the hands of Callum Thorp, who spilled a straightforward chance at gully. Otherwise, the 22-year-old played with the authority Newell will hope to see from both his openers when Michael Lumb arrives from Hampshire next season.Given that, even taking into account the absence of Samit Patel – also on England duty – it was understandable for Newell to be disappointed with 270 all out. Karl Turner, who opened with Hales this time, misjudged a ball from Thorp that clipped the top of off stump as he offered no shot, and Darren Bravo, having looked in the mood to take full advantage of the short boundary, fell on 23, reaching into an expansive drive off Ruel Brathwaite, which he edged to the keeper.Nonetheless, 130 for 2 should have been a platform for better. Yet Riki Wessels, who had contributed only three singles in a stand of 51 with Hales, dangled his bat out to Claydon to give Phil Mustard the second of his four catches and Steven Mullaney thin-edged a pull, both men out in single figures.Mullaney’s wicket was a first in the Championship for the debutant Mark Wood, a 21-year-old who hails from Stephen Harmison’s home town of Ashington. Considerably shorter and with a whippy action, Wood has little else in common with the former England speed merchant and has on odd run-up that begins with him pushing off as if from a sprinter’s starting blocks and ends almost on the wrong foot. But he accredited himself reasonably well after a difficult start. He claimed a second wicket when Pattinson holed out to mid-off and would have had a decent day all round had he not spilled a skyer from Andre Adams at backward point off Brathwaite.Chris Read dabbed at one that kept low to be caught behind before Hales, perhaps becoming frustrated after Ian Blackwell’s accurate left-arm spin had stemmed the flow of runs, was caught on the square leg boundary with a miscued pick-up after Brathwaite had come back into the attack.Notts habitually find redemption in the lower order but after Adams had flailed away briefly and perished in predictable fashion on the long-off boundary, only Paul Franks was able to offer a shot in the arm this time and, after seven boundaries, his contribution was cut short when Claydon got one to move away enough to induce an edge to second slip, after which Graeme White was leg before trying to turn Blackwell into the leg side.Pattinson’s three sixes, all off Claydon to the short boundary, included one that was caught by Brathwaite but effectively carried the fielder over the rope and another that was almost one-handed.Those big blows evidently put an extra spring in Pattinson’s step and the Notts bowlers in general were able to exploit the vagaries in the surface to greater effect than their Durham counterparts.Luke Fletcher made one climb on Di Venuto, whose cut became more of a swish, Hales taking the catch at first slip. Then Pattinson brought one back to bowl Will Smith, who became the second batsman out on the day shouldering arms, and produced a fine, swinging delivery that Mark Stoneman edged to third slip to leave the visitors 27 for 3.After that, Paul Collingwood and Dale Benkenstein did well to weather the closing overs before a sharp bouncer from Fletcher in fading light prompted the umpires to terminate play a couple of overs early.

The PCB has expressed its interest to stage an ICC event in 2018 in Pakistan, where no international cricket has been played since March 2009, and duly requested cricket’s governing body to consider the proposal . The ICC has acknowledged the request but hasn’t given any assurances, saying that no confirmed event is currently scheduled for 2018.”We fully understand the PCB request and we will consider if it is possible to host an event in Pakistan subject to the standard safety and security clearances,” Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said.The absence of incoming tours has hit the PCB financially, forcing it to approve a deficit budget as it ‘hosts’ teams on neutral territory. No team has visited Pakistan due to security concerns since the attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009.The executive board unanimously adopted the report of its Pakistan Task Team (PTT), headed by the ECB chairman Giles Clarke, containing 63 recommendations covering key areas of governance, cricket administration, playing structure, financial viability and communications. “I am pleased that the PCB will consider this report at its next Board meeting,” Lorgat said.The board also decided that stadia hosting ICC global events must be match-ready at least six months before the event, based on a recommendation from its finance and commercial affairs committee.The decision comes in the wake of the issues that the ICC faced during the 2011 World Cup, when some venues, including Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, struggled to complete their preparations in time for hosting matches. The ICC even had to shift the marquee India-England clash from Eden Gardens to the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.”Even though the event was hugely successful, it is important for us to learn lessons so that we can continually improve our events,” Lorgat said.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outRohit Sharma was both elegant and tough in the chase•Associated Press

Rohit Sharma produced his best international innings since his big-stage arrival in Australia three years ago to help India chase down 226 from 92 for 6. Harbhajan Singh supported him with a seventh-wicket partnership full of sensible cricket and worth 88 runs. Rohit stayed unbeaten on 86 to outdo a similar effort from Andre Russell who blasted 92 off 64 to give West Indies a defendable target after they had been 96 for 7. With the result, India took an unassailable 3-0 lead. West Indies last won an ODI series against a Test-playing nation in April 2008.Without doubt this was the best of India’s tour so far. A day when West Indies showed remarkable fight after getting off to the worst start of the series. A day when Amit Mishra mesmerised them with old-fashioned legspin full of turn, drift, bounce, straighter ones and googlies. A day when two tails wagged to provide uncertainty and drama. A day when a young talent announced himself well and proper on the international stage. A day when a young talent who has fumbled with mediocrity played a comeback innings well and proper.There were also collapses that didn’t make for pretty viewing. At 65 for 1 West Indies lost six wickets for 31, India four for 32 from 60 for 2. There were similarities in the collapses. Both began with avoidable run-outs, West Indies’ with Ramnaresh Sarwan’s and India’s with S Badrinath’s. Both lost their bats as they tried to make their crease.West Indies could claim the rest of their collapse was down to some special legspin bowling. During that period, Mishra took three wickets for one run. He set up Marlon Samuels with four legbreaks bowled with a scrambled seam. None of those turned big, and were defended well by Samuels. The change-up was the orthodox legbreak, which drifted, dipped, and then ripped past Samuels who had been lured out of the crease. Debutant Danza Hyatt was done in by a googly, and Lendl Simmons fell to another big legbreak that he was forced to play at.Simmons fell short of what would have been a sixth fifty in the last seven innings. India, too, lost opener Parthiv Patel in the 40s again. The batsmen who followed played too many shots even with the asking rate under 4.5 an over, and lost their wickets. In between Virat Kohli got a bad lbw decision. Yusuf Pathan’s dismissal seemed just as unfair; Simmons had no business back-pedalling from short midwicket – after having instinctively moved in to save the single – to complete an overhead catch well behind his body.West Indies’ comeback in the first half of the day was unexpected because of the way they have been squandering positions of strength. Here Russell and Carlton Baugh did the opposite. The two added 78 for the eighth wicket, but that alone would have been strictly consolation.To make a fight out of it, West Indies would need something special. And special Russell was in the last three overs, scoring 42 off the last 14 balls he faced. The last two overs of the innings, bowled by Raina and Praveen Kumar, went for 37. Russell just kept clearing the front leg, kept hitting off the middle of the bat, and the ball kept clearing the ground. Russell walked back to an applause from his team-mates who had found a new belief.While Russell’s innings could be seen as one played from a position where he and West Indies didn’t have much to lose, Rohit is one man who has it all to lose on this trip. Today he only gained. He tends to be a touch edgy at the start of all his innings, but today his start was the most fluent part of his innings. Coming in at 60 for 3, he went after Darren Sammy who had earlier been on a hat-trick, lofting him for a beautiful six and four off back-to-back deliveries.Rohit was in a mood to boss the game, but when he saw wickets fall at the other end he went into accumulation mode. Harbhajan proved to be an ideal partner. With the asking-rate still within reach, neither man tried to hit boundaries. There were two boundary-less spells of 10 overs each in the middle of the innings. The first one was during the collapse, and was broken only when Rohit got a low full toss on the pads, moving to 38 in the 28th over.Ten overs later, he played another beautiful punch, caressing the ball past point for four. The next three overs featured a couple of half chances, a couple of uppish shots that didn’t make it to the deep fielder. That’s when the game broke towards India. Harbhajan went with the flow and hit a four and a six in the 41st over. Russell, though, hadn’t had his last say. Off the last ball of the over, he got Harbhajan with a slower ball.In a deliberate ploy, Rohit then took the back seat, asking Praveen Kumar to go for the big hits in the batting Powerplay. Praveen’s twirls paid off, and Rohit stayed solid at the other end. After hitting the match-winning runs, Rohit pulled out one of the stumps. It could signify a turning point in a career that many believe should have taken off long ago.