Chase: “This is just the first of two legs.”

Result: West Indies 245 & 170 for two (King 81, Campbell 49; Mahmud 1-14) beat Bangladesh 272 & 142 (Nayeem 52, Jaker 22; Chase 5-36) by 8 wickets 

It took Roston Chase nine attempts to get his first win as West Indies Test captain, getting off the mark with victory over Sri Lanka in the opening Test in Antigua and Barbuda last summer. Their eight-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first Dhaka Test means they’ve now won three of their last five.

“Obviously winning a Test match, anywhere, any conditions, is a beautiful feeling. But we came here to win the series, so this is the start that we needed. And we want to win both matches, so this is just the first of two legs,” Chase opened his post-match presser.

Bangladesh’ last four partnerships produced 89 runs to be bowled out for 142 in their second innings, setting the West Indies 170 to win on a tricky Day 4 pitch. A match-sealing century stand between openers Brandon King and John Campbell took the game away from the hosts. They put on 112 runs in just 126 balls as West Indies raced to the target in 35.1 overs for the loss of two wickets, taking a 1-0 lead in the series.

King dominated the Bangladeshi spinners for a Test high-score of 81 not out, while Campbell (49) fell just shy of a second half-century in the match. Chase spoke to the attacking mindset with which his team approached a potentially tricky target on a spin-friendly wicket for his first away win.

“Although Bangladesh have some good spinners and whatnot, I just wanted them (openers) to go out there, and if the spinners are offline, try to punish them,” he began to explain.

“Don't let them just settle and bowl and bowl and bowl, because we know when they get into that rhythm, and they start spotting the ball in front of you, they start to get that confidence, and then things start to happen. So I just thought that start was very key for us,” he added.

Chase was also full of praise for Jomel Warrican’s player-of-the-match effort, with the left-arm spinner claiming combined figures of 9 for 116 across both innings. 

“I think that we have a quality spin attack, especially led by Jomel Warrican. He's a guy that I've known for many, many years. He went to school with me, and he's a good craftsman. He's been improving, and anytime he gets a chance, he always delivers. He's been leading us as a spin bowling unit, and he's been giving us confidence to do well. So I just want to say ‘well-bowled’ to him,” Chase enthused.

Chase even lauded his seamers. However, on the day he claimed a five-wicket haul, which took him past 100 Test wickets (101), making him just the fourth West Indian—behind Garry Sobers, Carl Hooper and Jason Holder—to take that many wickets and score in excess of 2800 runs in the format, the Barbadian failed to mention himself. 

There were 15 months between Chase’s last Test appearance and his appointment as captain. His personal form had immediately placed him under pressure. The all-rounder averaged 13.8 with the bat and 71 with the ball across his first three series in charge. West Indies were winless in that period, losing seven of eight games.

Following the three-match Test series in New Zealand, which the West Indies lost 2-0, Chase finished with a batting average of 7.0. The all-rounder had then managed to make an important distinction between himself as a player and as a skipper.

“Leading, in terms of words and encouraging and inspiring the team, was all good, but in terms of going out there and producing and letting the team have someone to look up to as a leader, I let myself and the team down,” Chase said at the time. 

Since New Zealand, Chase has been averaging 52.14 with the bat. He was left unbeaten on 43 in the first innings and grabbed 5 for 36 in the second. His fifth five-wicket haul. At the moment, Chase is a captain whose good form is being reflected in his team’s results—results he wants to read ‘four wins from six’ at the end of this series.