Lunch West Indies 355 and 309 for 4 (Bravo 151*, Chanderpaul 33*) lead Bangladesh 231 by 433 runs
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West Indies approached the morning session with caution and largely relied on quiet accumulation to extend their lead to 433. There didn't appear to be any demons in the pitch, though the spells from Devendra Bishoo and Marlon Samuels yesterday morning and the rough patches on either side of the crease promised much more in the second innings. As it turned out, West Indies had little difficulty dealing with a spin-strong attack and chose to gradually move to a position of impregnability on the fourth day, possibly with a plan of giving themselves a day-and-a-half to bowl out the hosts.
With the cushion of a significant lead and seven wickets in hand when play began, one would have expected the centurion Darren Bravo, in particular, to bat with freedom and show some aggression to set up a declaration at lunch. But with the field spread out, he chose to work the ball around, often through midwicket and down the ground, picked up singles and twos while dispatching a couple of poor balls from Shahadat for boundaries. For the most part, though, barring an attempt by nightwatchman Kemar Roach to send the ball to Chittagong that cost him his wicket, the approach was restrained.
The spinners Suhrawadi Shuvo and Nasir Hossain hardly got any turn, the seamers were off the mark and the element of predictability about the bowling will have raised questions about why West Indies ticked along at just a little over three an over for much of the session. Perhaps weighing on their mind would have been the trend of high scores in the fourth innings in Mirpur - two matches have been won here by sides chasing 200 with few wickets lost, and Bangladesh once managed 413 in a losing cause against Sri Lanka.
However, three boundaries from Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the same over from Nasir - over mid-off, through midwicket and past extra cover - minutes before lunch, and a pulled boundary by Bravo that raised his 150, indicated a short burst might be in store after the break.