Hodge 140* puts West Indies in command

Kavem Hodge dislodged Bangladesh from the driver's seat with a career-best unbeaten 140 on the fourth day in Sylhet. The visitors went to stumps on 345 for 3, leading by 315 runs and firmly in control.

As has been the trend throughout this Test series, play was interrupted by bad light, this time just minutes before the scheduled 4.30pm finish. It was officially called off a little later.

Hodge led the way, putting on 165 runs for the third wicket with Kevin Wickham, who also had a memorable outing. Wickham became the first West Indies batter in 48 years to score two fifties on Test debut. Hodge later added an unbeaten 61-run stand for the fourth wicket with Amir Jangoo.

Bangladesh struggled to hold on to the momentum after Towhid Hridoy's magnificent unbeaten 242 on the third day. Instead, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, his deputy Mehidy Hasan Miraz and wicketkeeper Litton Das all sustained blows while fielding, requiring repeated assistance from the team physio.

West Indies regrouped after Hridoy's marathon knock. Brandon King and Joshua Da Silva put on 85 runs for the opening wicket, dominating the morning session. They struck a flurry of boundaries off Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Nayeem Hasan before Taijul Islam finally broke the partnership.

Da Silva fell to Taijul for the sixth time in his career, having made 36. Mehidy removed King shortly after Hridoy dropped the batter on 56. King departed for 61, having struck 11 boundaries.

Hodge quickly moved to 30 with a cluster of boundaries before lunch. Wickham began the second session with a straight six and followed it up with two fours off a Mehidy over. The pair continued to trade boundaries before taking West Indies past 200. Hodge also brought up 1,000 Test runs in his 19th match.

Wickham began the third session with another six, this time off Taijul, before Hodge reached his century in the left-arm spinner's next over. Bangladesh were also beginning to show their frustration at the lack of wickets. They conceded four overthrows and a boundary off byes.

Taijul eventually broke the third-wicket stand when he had Wickham caught and bowled for 78. Hodge, however, continued to find the boundary, capitalising on anything short or overpitched.

Shanto suffered two blows in the field, first hurting his knee while chasing a ball towards the fine-leg boundary and then taking a knock to his fingers while trying to stop a Hodge miscue. Hodge, meanwhile, went on to register his highest Test score with a beautifully timed cut shot off Mahmud before finding the boundary again with an under-edge in the same over. It was Hodge's day as West Indies wrested control of the Test.