Bangladesh shot out for 43: 18 overs of absolute mayhem

It was swift, it was precise, it was poetry, it was painful, it was West Indies of the yore, it was Bangladesh of the present whenever they visit foreign shores.

Overcast conditions, green patches on the surface, a pace attack brimming with condifence and then an unrelenting bowling performance. All summed up perfectly, all perhaps just the way it was meant to be.

The West Indian bowling attack, led by the pace and precision of Kemar Roach, sliced through the Bangladesh batting line-up at Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua in the first game of the two-match Test series.

The visitors crumbled for 43 all out in just 18.4 overs, falling to their lowest ever total in the longest format of the game.

A hapless Shakib

Records tumbled throughout the innings, as the Bangladesh batting line-up was annihilated in just 99 minutes of play. The meagre total put up by them is the lowest by any team against the West Indians, and also the lowest scored in the country.

It is the tenth joint-shortest innings aggregate as well as eighth shortest completed innings in Test cricket.

The first wicket of the day fell to Roach, the West Indian star of the innings. The delivery was pitched just short of a good length and angled into the left-hander. Tamim Iqbal couldn't gauge the late moment of the ball and ultimately, ended up edging it to Dowrich, who completed a simple catch behind the stumps.

Mominul Haque is dismissed by Roach as well, this time by a delivery further away from the off-stump. The Bangladesh number three looked uncomfortable at the crease from the word go and seemed to tense up more and more in his short stay in the middle. The right-hander flashed hard at the delivery, finally getting caught by Shai Hope at gully.

Roach was on a roll by the time the hosts gobbled up their third wicket!

His prey this time was Mushfiqur Rahim, who went back to the dressing room without troubling the scorers on the day. The LBW decision was reviewed by the former skipper, but it was more in hope than anything else.

The impact of the delivery angling in seemed dubious. However, the tracker retained umpire's call on the impact and showed the delivery crashing into Rahim's off-stump.

Kemar Roach doubled Bangladesh's pain in a span of two deliveries, scalping the wicket of Shakib Al Hasan in the same over. The visiting skipper succumbed to the duck as well, poking at the Barbadian's good length delivery, which was bowled perfectly on the corridor of uncertainty. It was a good grab by Jason Holder at third slip.

Cummins was just the right foil

Roach clinched a five-wicket haul inside nine overs, as he picked up Mahmudullah off the very next delivery. The spearhead was on in full flight, as the right-hander nicked the ball to Dowrich behind the stumps.

This was probably Roach's best wicket of the day, coming off a terrific delivery that plunged in from wide outside the off stump and then straightened at the very last moment.

Miguel Cummins was the first host bowler to get on the board with a wicket after that dream spell from Roach. Liton Das, who was slashing hard at every delivery along his way, got a thick edge off a good-length delivery from the bowler and threw his wicket away with an ugly heave.

Nurul Hasan's wicket came in the very same over, as Cummins bowled a double-wicket maiden on the day. The late movement of the ball is what got to the wicket-keeper, as his attempted flick off the delivery ended up producing an edge straight to Holder at the third slip.

Cummins continued to poke and prod at the Bangladeshi batsmen, received yet another reward in the 16th over of the innings. Devon Smith took a sharp catch at second slip to dismiss Mehidy Hasan, who was the eighth pin to fall on the day. A full delivery from Cummins did the trick this time around, as lack of footwork in the build-up to Hasan's attempted off-drive helped nick the ball to the slip cordon.

Jason Holder, who had been directly involved in two wickets but did not have one to his name up until then, came to the party in the 17th over. Kamrul Islam was dismissed off a short delivery that climbed on him, kissed the edge of his willow, and flew to Dowrich, who caught it with ease.

Holder claimed the last wicket of the innings as well, as the woodwork behind Abu Jayed's bat was disturbed in the 19th over of the game. The delivery was bowled on a good length, moved past the outside edge of Jayed's willow, and took the off-stump with it to put an end to Bangladesh's nightmarish innings.