Hridoy's historic 242* powers Bangladesh's epic turnaround in Sylhet

Cricinfo – Towhid Hridoy staged a turnaround for the ages as his record-breaking unbeaten 242 handed Bangladesh a 30-run first-innings lead on day three of the second Test against West Indies. Just before lunch, it looked like the hosts would concede a 150-plus deficit. They were 184 for 7 before Hridoy put on 202 runs for the last two wickets with Taijul Islam and Taskin Ahmed, even as opening batter Shadman Islam’s injury to his left ankle on the first morning left Bangladesh with ten men in the Test.

Hridoy became the fourth Bangladesh batter to score a double-hundred, after Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan. On the way, he broke several Bangladesh records. His 242* is now Bangladesh’s highest score, as he went past Mushfiqur’s 219* against Zimbabwe in 2018. Hridoy also struck 11 sixes in his innings, one short of the world record held by Wasim Akram and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Hridoy scored 213 runs on the third day, beating Shakib’s record of 212 from the Wellington Test in 2017.

Hridoy turned it on during the day’s second session. Already batting on 100, he went for broke while batting with the lower order. Hridoy focused on big-hitting and farming the strike, though it also meant he missed out on plenty of runs while turning down singles.