In the first two days of the Dhaka Test, spin has accounted for ten of the 14 wickets to fall. Judging by how much turn there was, it's natural to assume that spin will be the key factor in deciding the Test series between Bangladesh and West Indies.
Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, who took 5 for 53 during Bangladesh's collapse on the second day, had already made this prediction on the first. The hosts slipped from an overnight score of 213 for 3 to be bowled out for 273 in the first session of the second day. West Indies also had a small collapse in their response, when they lost three quick wickets after a fine start and finished on 134 for 4.
Despite the overdose of spin, both collapses were fascinating. The Shere Bangla National Stadium, to its credit, isn't a minefield. Not yet, at least. Both teams batted comfortably for a considerable period. Bad light on both days, and rain on the second, affected the batters' rhythm, but generally their dismissals had a lot to do with their mental approach to playing spin.
Warrican and newcomer Joshua Bishop, left-arm spinners with eerily similar actions, stuck close to an off-stump line, asking the Bangladesh batters to drive. They pitched full occasionally, which helped Bishop remove the pugnacious Towhid Hridoy, but both spinners subtly varied their lengths, which resulted in the lbw dismissals of Najmul Hossain Shanto on the first day and the centurion Shadman Islam. Warrican's most appealing delivery was the one that spun sharply between Mehidy Hasan Miraz's bat and pad.
Bangladesh's spinners are far more experienced in comparison to the West Indians, but they needed to be patient against John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul. The rain break certainly helped them but John Campbell, who scored his sixth half-century before falling to Shanto's great catch at slip, noted that the home spinners bowled a little quicker as the spells wore on.
"I think the Bangladeshi spinners started a little bit slower, but after a few overs, they gradually increased the pace," Campbell said. "But as I saw that it was a little bit more easy pace when they bowled slow. So I think the pace on the wicket is very important."
Shadman, who made his third Test century, also fell to spin. He said Taijul Islam and Mehidy used their experience to good effect by bowling in "better areas" and having a "lot more patience" but credited West Indies for stepping up with the second new ball. Campbell, too, felt the visiting spinners bowled better on the second morning. Warrican and Bishop took seven wickets combined, and it is not rare for West Indies to have two specialist spinners in their XI these days.
"I just thought we were more consistent in our lines and lengths, challenged the batsmen a lot more this morning than we were yesterday," Campbell said. "It is pretty clear that whenever Jomel gets wickets that assist him, he is always in the wickets. He was challenging the batsmen for most of his spell, so kudos to him. I think Bishop bowled really well. His debut game, first Test match. For the most part, he was consistently hitting a decent line and length."
Shadman, meanwhile, rued Bangladesh's inability to capitalise on their performance on day one. "We should have done better in the morning session," he said. "The scenario would have been different had I stuck around for longer. I don't think some of our batters chose aggressive options due to the pitch. I think Hridoy would usually play that shot to a half-volley. I think they bowled well, while we made some mistakes. A bigger partnership between myself and Litton would have made the difference."
The combination of bad light and rain, though, hampered West Indies' response to Bangladesh's 272. The umpires took the players off for bad light at 2pm, and it began to rain 20 minutes later. The players returned after an hour and Campbell said the break allowed the hosts to regroup, with the visitors finishing the day still 138 runs behind.
While the fading light will test batters in the final session of each day in Dhaka, spin will be a more persistent threat, in the next Test in Sylhet too. How each team tackles spin bowling will ultimately decide the fate of this series.