Bangladesh draw Sylhet Test as Towhid Hridoy's record 324 runs fall short of saving the series

The second Test between Bangladesh and West Indies in Sylhet ended in a draw on Monday 9 November 2026, when bad light stopped play with Bangladesh on 184 for 4 in pursuit of 369. The result gave West Indies the two-match series 1-0 after their eight-wicket win in Mirpur, but the match will be remembered for Towhid Hridoy. The 25-year-old made 242 not out in the first innings, the highest Test score by a Bangladesh batter, then 82 on the final day to secure the draw, for a national-record 324 runs in a single Test.

Mushfiqur Rahim also became the first Bangladeshi to reach 7,000 Test runs, and West Indies left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, named Player of the Series, took his 100th Test wicket.

How did the final day unfold?

West Indies resumed on 345 for 3, already well ahead, and batted for exactly 10 more overs, adding 53 runs before captain Roston Chase declared on 398 for 6. Kavem Hodge, unbeaten on 140 overnight, was out for a career-best 142, caught off Nayeem Hasan; Justin Greaves and Shamar Joseph fell cheaply, while Joshua Bishop hit 20 off 11 balls and wicketkeeper Amir Jangoo finished on 39 not out. Kevin Wickham, on Test debut, had made 78 in the innings and Brandon King 61.

That left Bangladesh a target of 369 with no realistic hope of chasing it, so the task was survival. They began without opener Shadman Islam, ruled out with an ankle injury, and Warrican struck twice before lunch: Tanzid Hasan holed out to deep midwicket for 21, and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto was given out lbw for 14 on review, leaving the hosts 40 for 2.

Hridoy and Mushfiqur then put on 135 for the third wicket, batting through the afternoon session. Warrican broke the stand after tea by bowling Hridoy around his legs for 82 off 140 balls, and Shamar Joseph bowled Mushfiqur for 49 off 123 balls shortly afterwards. Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz were together for 14 deliveries before the light went. The umpires called off play at 3.45pm local time and the match was formally ended at 4pm, according to ESPNcricinfo.

What records did Towhid Hridoy break?

Hridoy's first-innings 242 not out, completed on Saturday 7 November, broke Mushfiqur's previous Bangladesh record of 219 not out against Zimbabwe in Mirpur in 2018. It came in only his third Test; he made his debut against Zimbabwe in June and had scored 54 runs in his first two matches, according to Bangladesh's UNB news agency.

ESPNcricinfo and UNB list a string of other records from the innings:

• His 213 runs on the third day, after resuming on 29, are the most by a Bangladesh batter in a single day of Test cricket, beating Shakib Al Hasan's 212 against New Zealand in Wellington in 2017.
• His 11 sixes are a Bangladesh record for a Test innings. Only Wasim Akram, against Zimbabwe in 1996, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, against England in 2024, have hit more in a Test innings, with 12 each.
• He is the first Bangladesh batter to turn a maiden Test hundred into a double-century, and the fourth from the country to score a Test double-hundred, after Mushfiqur, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib.
• His 242 made up 62.69% of Bangladesh's 386, the largest share by a Bangladesh batter in a completed Test innings.
• It is the highest individual Test score at the Sylhet venue, passing Mahmudul Hasan Joy's 171.

His 82 on Monday lifted his match total to 324, beating Mominul Haque's Bangladesh record of 281 against Sri Lanka in 2018; ESPNcricinfo says he is only the ninth batter to pass 300 runs in a Test against West Indies. He also became the first Bangladesh batter to score a fifty in the same Test as a double-century. Across both innings he faced 499 balls, Cricbuzz calculated.

How did Bangladesh recover in the first innings?

The context makes the innings more striking. Replying to West Indies' 356, built on Jangoo's 133 and despite six wickets for seamer Hasan Mahmud, Bangladesh slipped to 51 for 3 and then collapsed from 124 for 3 to 184 for 7, according to Wisden. Hridoy counterattacked with the lower order. He added 117 for the eighth wicket with Taijul Islam and then 85 with Taskin Ahmed, so that the last two partnerships were worth 202 runs, ESPNcricinfo reported. Bangladesh finished on 386, a lead of 30.

Hridoy, mostly known as a white-ball batter who has faced criticism for playing too many shots, backed his attacking approach afterwards. ESPNcricinfo noted that the innings should quieten some of that criticism.

What other milestones were reached?

Mushfiqur reached 7,000 Test runs when he was on nine in the second innings, the first Bangladesh batter to get there. Warrican's dismissal of Hridoy was his 100th Test wicket, making him only the second West Indies left-arm spinner after Alf Valentine to reach the mark, according to ESPNcricinfo. Warrican took 4 for 104 and 3 for 44 in Sylhet after match figures of 9 for 116 in Mirpur, and was named Player of the Series. Hridoy was Player of the Match.