Roston Chase wins toss, West Indies to bat in second Test at Sylhet

West Indies captain Roston Chase won the toss and elected to bat first in the second and final Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet on Thursday. The visitors head into this match leading the two-match series 1-0 after winning the first Test by eight wickets in Dhaka.

Bangladesh made two changes to their XI with veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim returning after missing the first Test due to a finger injury and pacer Taskin Ahmed included; they replaced Mominul Haque, who is out with a head injury, and Shoriful Islam. West Indies also altered their side, bringing in Kevin Wickham, who is set to make his Test debut, and Joshua Da Silva; John Campbell and Tagnarine Chanderpaul were left out due to viral fever. The two playing XIs listed were Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Taijul Islam, Hasan Mahmud; West Indies: Joshua Da Silva, Brandon King, Kevin Wickham, Kavem Hodge, Amir Jangoo, Roston Chase (captain), Justin Greaves, Kemar Roach, Shamar Joseph, Jomel Warrican, Jayden Seales.

New-ball accuracy from Taskin Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud produced early breakthroughs, with Bangladesh reducing the West Indies to 27/3 inside the first hour. The commentary noted, "The first hour has flown by and it belongs to the hosts," and a drinks break followed after the early spells. Bangladesh's seamers found movement and created pressure that saw West Indies' top order struggle.

Kevin Wickham, on Test debut, found some rhythm and recorded his first boundary in Test cricket when Hasan Mahmud landed a delivery "around off" and Wickham "swats it to the deep mid-wicket fence for his first boundary in Test cricket." Wickham also worked singles through the off side and was involved in positive running between the wickets alongside Amir Jangoo.

Amir Jangoo contributed with a mix of singles and a driven boundary off Taskin Ahmed; after Jangoo's drive through cover the commentary declared, "50 comes up for West Indies!" Jangoo also edged one ball that was referred upstairs; the front-on replay showed "that the ball clearly bounced before nestling into Das' left glove." A separate incident saw a confident caught-behind appeal negated by a no-ball for overstepping.

Bangladesh introduced spin when Mehidy Hasan Miraz was brought into the attack to replace Hasan Mahmud. Mehidy bowled a range of deliveries to both batsmen, including floated fuller balls and in-anglers, with the coverage describing several defensive pushes and single runs off his overs.

Taskin produced notable pace during his spell, with one delivery to Amir Jangoo recorded at 132.4 kph and other fuller-length balls carved into the off side; his variations yielded a boundary for Jangoo and several singles as West Indies rebuilt. With the ball beginning to lose shine, Wickham and Jangoo have batted with a positive mindset and will look to stay unbeaten till lunch.