West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin said that changing Suleiman Benn's end during the Tamim Iqbal-Mominul Haque third-wicket partnership was what swung the St Lucia Test his way. As soon as Benn had Tamim caught off a top edge, the home side took the next seven wickets in 18.5 overs to win by 296 runs.
Bangladesh were reeling at 48 for 2 when Tamim and Mominul consolidated to add 110 runs for the third wicket. They played out a session without getting out, only their second such period during the Test series. They survived a Darren Bravo drop when Mominul edged one to him at first slip with his score on 29.
After both had reached their slowest fifties in Test cricket, Ramdin asked Benn to change ends and bowl with the wind blowing from the on-side. Tamim gave Shannon Gabriel a catch after which came the collapse.
"We were trying to keep the run-rate down and try to create the opportunity but we didn't take that chance," Ramdin said. "We also tried to switch the bowlers around, and make them hit [Suleiman] Benn against the breeze. He [Tamim Iqbal] tried that and it came off for us."
Ramdin, however, felt that wickets in hand on the final day could have led to an open game. "It was a very good batting pitch, still," he said. "Going into the fifth day, it could have gone either way with wickets in hand. But it becomes very difficult for a new guy coming into bat here and get a start."
He praised the contributions of Man of the Match Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Man of the Series Kraigg Brathwaite, although there were times when the pair tested their captain's patience with their diligence. But Chanderpaul was not dismissed once in the series while Brathwaite scored his first double-hundred in an aggregate of 324 runs at an average of 108.
"Those two stood out throughout the series for us," Ramdin said. "Kraigg's double-century and Shiv didn't get out in the series. They batted and batted, and took the opposition out of the game. India is going to be a very big series for us, and I am sure we will come good there."
Chanderpaul, who reached his 30th Test century earlier in the day and is now four short of Brian Lara's 34, said that his mantra was to tell himself to remain at the crease when the day ends and come back to bat the next day.
"I obviously feel great, winning the Test match was the most important thing," Chanderpaul said. "It was our aim from the beginning, get as much as we can from the first innings and see where we go. As a batter, you can't think about getting out. You have to think about coming to bat the next day. I was trying to maintain that and hopefully I can carry on wherever I go."
But it was all doom and gloom for Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who was left picking up the pieces after a second Test series loss. He conceded that the team had not found out a way to avoid a collapse during crucial periods in a match.
"It has been a problem in the last couple of years," Mushfiqur said. "We haven't worked it out yet. It is all sorts of mental and skill-related things. Sometimes it is skills, sometimes it is mental. We need to be tough. Because this is Test cricket, we need to be tough for the whole session, not one or two hours.
"I think Tamim, Mominul, Mahmudullah, Al-Amin played well, as did Taijul. But we need to improve a lot as a group. We have a home series coming up against Zimbabwe which will be a tough one so all the boys will get a break and let's see how it goes."
Tamim's wicket was key - Ramdin
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Tamim's wicket was key - Ramdin
