Justin Greaves scores patient first century as West Indies lead Bangladesh by 410 runs

Justin Greaves. Pic/AFP

Justin Greaves scored a patient maiden century in only his third test before West Indies declared at 450-9 on the second day of the first test against Bangladesh. Greaves, who finished 115 not out, had a previous highest score in tests of 33 and only one century in 43 first-class matches before compiling a composed hundred from 181 balls, batting at No. 6.

He completed the first century of West Indies' innings after Mikyle Louis was out for 97 and Alick Athanaze for 90 on the first day. Bangladesh was 40-2 at stumps, trailing by 410 runs when bad light stopped play with seven overs left in the day. Shahadat Hossain was 10 not out and Mominul Haque on 7. The tourists lost Mahmadul Hasan Joy (5) and Zakir Hasan (15) in 20 overs before the close. 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 at nine. The pair put on 140 for the eighth wicket to fully turn the match in West Indies' favor. Roach made a painstaking 47 from 144 balls, following the example of Greaves whose innings of 206 deliveries included 128 dot balls. "Me and Justin are from the same country and he understands my batting ability so he just backed me in the situation and obviously it paid off," Roach said.

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"We're good mates, we have very good conversations at the cricket and outside cricket so that's what helped us in the middle." 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. "It was a fantastic effort," Roach said.

"He's one who wants to learn ... I've had big hopes for him from the time he started." 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 finally was 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, raising his bat to acknowledge the applause of the crowd.

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