Bangladesh hold on for a Sylhet draw as West Indies take the series 1-0

Bad light ended the West Indies' pursuit of a 2-0 sweep in Sylhet, and a drawn second Test was enough to give the tourists the series

Bangladesh were 184 for 4 in pursuit of 369 when the umpires called a halt on the final evening at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, leaving the second Test drawn and the West Indies winners of the two-match series 1-0.

The hosts were set that target after Roston Chase declared on the fifth morning, and they never went after it. Towhid Hridoy and Mushfiqur Rahim added 135 for the third wicket to take the match beyond the reach of either side.

Both fell in the closing session, but by then the innings had run to 59 overs and the light did the rest.

Warrican strikes twice before lunch

Jomel Warrican removed both openers inside the first session. Tanzid Hasan went for 21 and the captain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, for 14, and Bangladesh reached lunch on 49 for 2.

The left-arm spinner finished with three of the four wickets to fall on the day.

Warrican was named player of the match in the first Test in Mirpur, where his 5-53 set up an eight-wicket win inside four days.

Hridoy and Mushfiqur dig in

The pair batted through the middle session and went to tea on 162 for 2, the target by then an afterthought and survival the only question left in the match.

Hridoy made 82 from 140 balls with eight fours before sweeping at Warrican and losing his off stump, a dismissal the third umpire confirmed. Mushfiqur followed for 49 from 123 balls, bowled off the outside edge by Shamar Joseph.

Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz were together when play stopped, Bangladesh still 185 short of the target. Chase, who had bowled the hosts out twice in Mirpur, went wicketless from 16 overs for 47.

Hodge's 142 shapes the declaration

The West Indies had resumed on 345 for 3 and added 53 in the morning before declaring on 398 for 6.

Kavem Hodge, unbeaten on 140 overnight, was bowled by Nayeem Hasan for 142 from 194 balls. The career-best innings had effectively settled the match a day earlier, stretching a lead that was already past 300 by the fourth evening.

A spin plan that never turned

Bangladesh picked three spinners for a pitch that gave them almost nothing. Taijul Islam, Mehidy and Nayeem sent down 58 overs for 224 runs on the fourth day, Taijul finishing with 2-118.

The quicks carried the attack instead. Taskin Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud bowled 45 overs between them in the first innings, Hasan taking six wickets as the West Indies were dismissed for 356.

Head coach Phil Simmons defended the approach to the final day. "It's a Test match, you don't try to lose Test matches. You try to save them [first]," he said.

Hridoy's 242 outlives the result

Bangladesh's one lasting gain was Hridoy's first innings. His 242 not out in a total of 386 for 9 is the highest individual Test score made by a Bangladesh batter, and it earned him the player-of-the-match award in the game that cost his side the series.

"We don't have regrets," Hridoy said of the week. "We are trying heart and soul, but execution didn't go well."

The draw was worth four World Test Championship points to each side, against the 12 the West Indies took from Mirpur, where Chase's 5-36 in the second innings finished the job.

Scorecard: West Indies 356 and 398 for 6 declared; Bangladesh 386 for 9 and 184 for 4. Match drawn. West Indies win the series 1-0.