Chittagong: Kyle Mayers scored a stunning double hundred on his debut as West Indies shocked Bangladesh by three wickets in the first Test in Chittagong on Sunday.
Mayers hit an unbeaten 210 from 310 balls — with 20 fours and seven sixes — to guide his side to 395-7 with just nine balls left on the final day.
West Indies, who are on tour without most of their first choice players because of the coronavirus pandemic, beat the best run chase in Asia, set by Sri Lanka who hit 388 to beat Zimbabwe by four wickets in Colombo in 2017.
Mayers, the second West Indies player to get a double hundred on his debut after Laurence Rowe and sixth overall, was brilliantly aided by fellow debutant Nkrumah Bonner, who hit 86.
Resuming on 110-3, the pair put on 216 for the fourth wicket to frustrate Bangladesh’s bowlers until they were separated by left-arm spinner Taijul Islam. Taijul trapped Bonner leg-before in the first over after tea to end the highest fourth wicket partnership for West Indies in the fourth innings of a Test.
They beat the record of Len Baichan and Clive Lloyd, who scored 164 against Pakistan at Lahore in 1975.
Jermaine Blackwood was stumped for nine by Nayeem Hasan as West Indies pressed for victory. But Mayers put on exactly 100 runs with Joshua Da Silva to take the visitors close to the target.
By the time Taijul Islam bowled Da Silva, West Indies were only three runs from victory.
Mehidy Hasan, who took all three wickets on the previous day, got only the consolation wicket of Kemar Roach when the score was tied.
An eerie silence gripped the Bangladesh team tent as Mayers pushed Nayeem at long off for single to complete the win. – Agencies
