Greaves maiden ton puts Windies in command against Bangladesh

A maiden century by Justin Greaves in only his third Test enabled the West Indies take command of the first Test against Bangladesh before declaring on 450 for 9 on the second day at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua, on Saturday.

Bangladesh were 40-2 at stumps, trailing by 410 runs when bad light stopped play with seven overs left in the day.

Greaves, who finished 115 not out, had a previous highest score in of 33 in Tests and one century in 43 first-class matches before his composed hundred off 181 balls, batting at No. 6.

He scored the first century of the West Indies' innings after Mikyle Louis was out for 97 and Alick Athanaze for 90 on the first day.

Shahadat Hossain was batting on 10 with Mominul Haque on 7.

Bangladesh lost Mahmadul Hasan Joy (5) and Zakir Hasan (15) in 20 overs before close of play.

West Indies resumed Saturday at 250-5 after being sent in when Bangladesh won the toss. They were 261-7, the match closely balanced, when Greaves was joined by Kemar Roach, batting on 9.

The pair put on 140 for the eighth wicket to turn the match the West Indies' way. Roach made a painstaking 47 from 144 balls, following the example of Greaves whose innings of 206 deliveries included 128 dot balls.

The 30-year-old Greaves, playing his first Test for 10 months, hit only four fours, including the boundary that brought up his century. Otherwise, he took 52 runs from singles, 38 from twos and nine from threes in an excellent example of running between wickets.

His batting form had been hinted at by the fact he scored four centuries in domestic one-day matches in West Indies.

Roach also restrained his attacking instinct, hitting two boundaries and scoring at a strike rate of 32.6 as he played a vital support role to Greaves. When Roach came to the crease, Greaves was only 18 after resuming Saturday at 11 not out.

The pair came together in the 87th over after Alzarri Joseph (4) was brilliantly caught in the gully by Zakir Hasan from the bowling of Hasan Mahmud. They built their partnership diligently, ticking off milestones.

Greaves reached his half century from 88 balls and by lunch the West Indies had recovered to 336-7, scoring at a steady three runs per over. Brief rain breaks failed to disturb the batters' concentration.

Roach was finally out in the 134th over when the total was 401-8. Mahmud delivered a ball outside off stump which beat Roach's shot as it curled back to hit middle.

Greaves was 98 when Roach was out but kept his concentration and avoided the fate of Louis and Athanaze, who both fell just short of maiden centuries. He reached his personal milestone four balls later.