Twin delight for Powell

On the fourth day of the Dhaka Test, Kieran Powell became the first West Indies batsman to score hundreds in each innings of a Test since Brian Lara achieved the feat against Sri Lanka in Colombo 11 years ago. The only other West Indies opener to hit twin Test centuries is Gordon Greenidge in 1976, but Powell was more concerned about what awaits his team on the fifth day than in history.

Powell wasn't even aware of who he stood a chance of emulating with his 117 and 110, saying he was reminded by a member of the support staff the night before. "Last night I was speaking to my massage therapist and he told me that this is perfect opportunity to do something like this," Powell said. "I am not too sure how often it happened but I am happy that it happened to me."

After fielding for a day and a half, Powell's second-innings century has been a reflection of his marked improvement as a batsman in the past year. He has now scored three centuries this year, solidifying his position in the Test side. Even in the space of two innings, Powell has showed the maturity that has escaped many West Indies openers when batting in the subcontinent. He adjusted perfectly to the match situation and the pitch, playing a lot straighter in the second innings while he had played all around the wicket in the first innings.

He was however part of the reason West Indies are in a position of weakness as they slipped from 212 for 3 to 244 for 6 at stumps. Powell was the fourth wicket to fall when he misjudged a straighter delivery from Shakib Al Hasan, exposing two new batsmen. That too in the absence of the experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was ill and resting at the team hotel on the fourth day.

West Indies are 215 ahead with four wickets in hand, which Powell felt was a score from which they could push for a win. "I think we are still in a good position. I think once we get to 300 tomorrow we should be in a good position to look for a win or even trying to save the game.

"All we need to do tomorrow is to bat through the first session. Once we do that we should be in a safe position and then push forward from there. I think we have enough time considering the [state of the] wicket."