KINGSTON, Jamaica (AFP) - Bangladesh were brought back down to earth and conceded first innings lead after exhilarating batting from West Indies captain Brian Lara and vice captain Ramnaresh Sarwan on the second day of the second cricket Test.
Lara fell 4.3 overs before stumps were drawn for 119 and Sarwan was undefeated on 106 to lead West Indies to 294 for three, replying to Bangladesh's first innings total of 284.
Bangladesh's steady, but hardly menacing attack was put under severe pressure either side of tea by the West Indies head honchos, as they added 185 for the third wicket.
Lara, who has staked his job of West Indies captain on winning the Test, entered when Devon Smith was run out for 44 and immediately went on the rampage.
He took the attack to the Bangladesh bowlers, particularly left-arm spin bowlers Manjural Islam Rana and Mohammad Rafique, whom he drove to mid-on for a single to complete his 26th Test century and equal Garfield Sobers for the most Test hundreds by a West Indian.
The Bangladesh fielders did not help the cause of their bowlers when fortune smiled on Sarwan and Hannan Sarkar muffed a chance at second slip off Tapash Baishya when the right-handed batsman, on 23, edged a loose drive.
The visitors learnt the hard way that it's foolhardy to miss top batsmen with Sarwan proceeding to complete his fifth Test hundred, when he turned a ball from Manjural through square leg for a single.
Bangladesh broke through about an hour after lunch with a smart bit of fielding that brought the downfall of Smith when he failed to beat Mohammad Ashraful's direct hit at the bowler's end from mid-on after sharing 83 for the second wicket with Sarwan.
The left-handed West Indies opener batted just over 2-1/2 hours and struck eight fours from 112 balls in 2-1/2 hours to give the innings early momentum.
The visitors, however, were treated to a typical Lara batting master-class when he arrived and tilted the balance in 2-3/4 hours at the crease in which he took full control before he was caught behind off Rafique, after taking West Indies to 154 for two at tea.
He smote a dozen fours and three sixes from 147 balls and completely dominated his stand with Sarwan, who has counted 11 fours from 186 balls in just under five hours.
Before lunch, Bangladesh had claimed the wicket of West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle, but a dropped catch on the stroke of the interval prevented them from removing Smith.
West Indies reached 60 for one at the lunch interval, but Tareq Aziz failed to hold a difficult chance diving away to his right at backward point when Smith, on 28, cut a short ball from Mushfiqur Rahman.
Mushfiqur had been the villain when he floored a sitter at third slip off Tapash when Gayle was 10. But the West Indies opener did not make much of his fortune and was caught behind for 14 to give Tareq his first wicket in his second Test.
Earlier, West Indies needed just 20 minutes to complete the demolition of the Bangladesh first innings after the visitors continued from their overnight total of 264 for nine.
Pedro Collins claimed the last wicket of Tapash for 48 to end with figures of three wickets for 64 runs from 19 overs, but not before Smith dropped the Bangladeshi medium-fast bowler at second slip when he was 40.
Tapash scored boundaries off the next two deliveries - a sliced drive to third man and a lofted drive over mid-off - before he edged the final ball of the morning's fifth over to second slip, where Smith made amends. Tapash and last man Tareq completed a valuable 46-run stand for the final wicket that added to West Indies' frustration.
Omari Banks was West Indies most successful bowler with four for 87 from 31 overs and Fidel Edwards took two for 66 from 20 overs. The two-Test series is tied 0-0 after the first Test at Gros Islet ended in a draw.