KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Kraigg Brathwaite came of age yesterday, when he gathered his maiden first-class hundred to put West Indies-A in an almost impregnable position in the opening four-day “Test” against Pakistan-A.
The 17-year-old batting prodigy satisfied his voracious appetite for runs with an undefeated 117 to anchor Windies-A to 216 for one in their first innings when bad light stopped play 10 overs early on the rain-shortened second day at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex.
Brathwaite, whose reputation for scoring hundreds is well documented in his native Barbados, reached the milestone from 290 balls.
He has so far struck 11 fours from 339 balls in just over 6 ½ hours of batting, as the Pakistanis endured the long, hard toil on a hard, easy-paced pitch.
The teenaged opener shared an enterprising first wicket stand of 91 with Kieran Powell, whose even 50 from 154 balls in a shade over three hours included four boundaries.
After the left-handed Powell was caught at forward short leg off Zulfiqar Babar, compatriot Kirk Edwards joined Brathwaite, and they batted the remainder of the day to add 125 – unbroken – for the second wicket.
Edwards, one of the players under heavy consideration for the senior side’s limited-overs squad on the tour of Sri Lanka, has struck just one boundary in a resolute 39 from 143 balls in 3 ½ hours.
Not a ball had been bowled after West Indies reached 63 without loss at the lunch interval on the opening day [Thursday], and wet conditions due to rain again delayed the start by two hours and 40 minutes yesterday.
Rain had also hampered the preparations of the teams on the eve of the match.
West Indies-A omitted Rajindra Chandrika and Brandon Bess from their squad of 13, as six players were brought-in to beef-up the line-up for the fixture.
The home won the preceding two-match Twenty20 series 1-0, with the first match ending in a tie, the same result as the first match of a three-match One-day series, which they lost 0-2 to the Pakistanis.
The two sides play a second four-day “Test”, starting this coming Wednesday at the same venue.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES-A 1st Innings
(overnight 63 without loss)
K. Powell c Shan Masood b Zulfiqar Babar 50
K. Brathwaite not out 117
K. Edwards not out 39
Extras (lb2, nb8) 10
TOTAL (1 wkt, 104.3 overs) 216
A. Fudadin, J. Carter, *D. Bernard, +D. Ramdin, V. Permaul, J. Holder, O. Brown, S. Gabriel to bat
Fall of wickets: 1-91 (Powell),
Bowling: Yasir Arafat 20-7-43-0; Anwar Ali 21.3-6-52-0 (nb2); Junaid Khan 18-3-43-0 (nb4); Zulfiqar Babar 32-9-57-1; Umer Amin 9-3-12-0 (nb2); Faisal Isbal 4-1-7-0
PAKISTAN-A: Khurram Manzoor, Umair Khan, Umer Amin, Aamer Sajjad, *Faisal Iqbal, +Sarfraz Ahmed, Shan Masood, Yasir Arafat, Junaid Khan, Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar
Toss: Pakistan-A
Umpires: N. Duguid, P. Nero
Reserve umpire: G. Greaves