CASTRIES, St. Lucia: Shivnarine Chanderpaul completed his 30th test century as the West Indies tightened its grip on the second test against Bangladesh on Tuesday, setting the tourists a victory target of 489 on day four.
The hosts, overnight 208-4 at the Beausejour Stadium, rode Chanderpaul's unbeaten 101 to stretch their second innings to 269-4 before declaring 45 minutes into the day. The Guyanese player, who turned 40 a month ago, hit eight fours off 134 balls in just under three hours.
Jermaine Blackwood, 18 years younger than Chanderpaul, chipped in with 66 not out, adding 169 undefeated for the fifth wicket with the senior man.
Bangladesh, which trails 1-0 in the two-test series, reached 55-2 in just over an hour's batting before lunch.
Pacer Jerome Taylor (1-31) and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn (1-5) grabbed the scalps for the home side. Shamsur Rahman counter-attacked for 39 off 27 balls with four fours and two sixes. Tamim Iqbal was 14 not out at the break with fellow left-hander Mominul Haque unbeaten on 2.
Earlier, Chanderpaul and Blackwood added 61 runs in 10 overs as the West Indies resumed in a position of strength.
Blackwood, on 43, soon brought up his second test half century and Chanderpaul wasted no time in moving from 63 overnight to yet another triple figure score.
In doing so, Chanderpaul became the 11th batsman to achieve 30 centuries or more in tests. The durable left-hander also became only the second West Indian to score a century after the age of 40, joining Clive Lloyd, who was watching on from the stands in his role as chairman of selectors.
Bangladesh got a bright start from Tamim and Shamsur as they eyed their formidable target.
Shamsur took on the short bowling from Jerome Taylor, smacking him for 4, 6, and 6 off successive balls. But he eventually fell to the stroke, top-edging straight to deep backward square leg at 47-1.
One run later, Benn claimed Anamul Haque, edging to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin for a duck to further strengthen the hosts' grip with a day and two sessions remaining.
