KHULNA, Bangladesh, CMC – Opener Lendl Simmons and wicketkeeper Devon Thomas hit high-powered half-centuries as West Indies warmed up for tomorrow’s start of the five-match limited overs series with a 118-run victory over the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI here yesterday.
In a 50-over game at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, West Indies piled up 361 for seven, with Simmons top-scoring with 84 and Thomas chipping in with 61 down the order.
Kieron Pollard, captaining the side in Darren Sammy’s absence, chipped in with 44 while Kieran Powell (34), Darren Bravo (31) and Dwayne Smith (30) all got starts.
In reply, the BCB XI were limited to 243 all out off 49.1 overs with Mominul Haque and Imrul Kayes both stroking 43.
Off-spinner Sunil Narine led the Windies attack with three for 47 while pacer Kemar Roach (2-40) and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul (2-52) supported with two wickets apiece.
Though key players like Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Sammy were rested, West Indies still made light work of their opponents with an impressive batting display.
Winning the toss and batting, the tourists got an up tempo start from Simmons and Powell who posted 68 from 55 balls for the first wicket.
The right-handed Simmons hit 12 fours and two sixes off just 81 balls while Powell, who got two centuries in the recent first Test, cracked three fours and two sixes in his 24-ball cameo
.
Once the left-handed Powell was bowled by seamer Farhad Reza in the tenth over, Simmons and Smith put on 81 for the second wicket, with Smith unusually subdued in gathering his runs from 41 balls.
Both batsmen fell in successive overs from leg-spinner Marshall Ayub to leave the Windies on 156 for three in the 26th over, but Bravo and Pollard kept the pressure on with a busy 61 for the fourth wicket off just 43 balls.
Bravo stroked five fours off 27 balls while Pollard was his usually aggressive self, belting five fours and two sixes in his 28 ball knock.
West Indies’ momentum dipped when they lost three wickets for 37 runs in the space of 32 balls but Thomas arrived to shift gears for the Caribbean side.
The right-hander put on 46 off 30 deliveries for the seventh wicket with Permaul before adding another 61 off 46 balls in an unbroken eighth wicket stand with Narine.
Thomas, who has replaced Test keeper Denesh Ramdin for the limited overs series, counted five fours and three sixes off a mere 43 balls.
Left-arm spinner Elias Sunny finished with three for 71 while Marshall Ayub (2-63) and Farhad Reza (2-68) claimed two wickets apiece.
In reply, the BCB XI got a solid start when Imrul Kayes and Anamul Haque (22) put on 68 for the first wicket but the hosts lost three wickets to slide to 95 for three in the 21st over. Mominul Haque and Ayub (30) pulled their side around with a 71-run, fourth wicket stand but Roach removed both in successive overs to end the fightback.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES
L Simmons b Marshall Ayub 84
K Powell b Farhad Reza 34
D Smith b Marshall Ayub 30
D Bravo c wkp Anamul Haque b Elias Sunny 31
*K Pollard c Ziaur Rahman b Elias Sunny 44
A Russell b Farhad Reza 18
+D Thomas not out 61
V Permaul c Imrul Kayes b Elias Sunny 27
S Narine not out 21
Extras (lb5, w5, nb1) 11
TOTAL (7 wkts, 50 overs) 361
Did not bat: R Rampaul, K Roach, D Sammy
Fall of wickets: 1-68 (Powell, 9.1 overs), 2-149 (Simmons, 23.3), 3-156 (Smith, 25.1), 4-217 (Bravo, 32.2), 5-236 (Pollard, 35), 6-254 (Russell, 37.4), 7-300 (Permaul, 42.2)
Bowling: Al-Amin Hossain 9-1-90-0 (w3, nb1), Farhad Reza 10-0-68-2 (w1), Elias Sunny 10-1-71-3, Enamul Haque jnr 10-1-58-0, Marshall Ayub 10-0-63-2 (w1), Asif Ahmed 1-0-6-0.
BCB XI
Imrul Kayes lbw b Narine 43
+Anamul Haque c Permaul b Russell 22
*Jahurul Islam c Bravo b Permaul 11
Mominul Haque lbw b Roach 43
Marshall Ayub b Roach 30
Ziaur Rahman b Rampaul 1
Asif Ahmed c wkp Thomas b Narine 6
Soumya Sarkar lbw b Narine 1
Farhad Reza lbw b Permaul 3
Elias Sunny not out 37
Enamul Haque jr c wkp Thomas b Pollard 10
Extras (lb5, w23, nb8) 36
TOTAL (all out; 49.1 overs) 243
Did not bat: Al-Amin Hossain
Fall of wickets: 1-63 (Anamul Haque, 14.2 ov), 2-82 (Imrul Kayes, 17.4 ov), 3-95 (Jahurul Islam, 20.6 ov), 4-166 (Marshall Ayub, 33.5 ov), 5-168 (Ziaur Rahman, 34.4), 6-177 (Mominul Haque, 35.2), 7-180 (Asif Ahmed, 37.3), 8-181 (Soumya Sarkar, 38), 9-200 (Farhad Reza, 42.3), 10-243 (Enamul Haque jnr, 49.1)
Bowling: Roach 8-1-40-2 (w2, nb1), Rampaul 8-1-28-1, Russell 8-0-36-1 (w5), Narine 10-0-47-3 (w1, nb2), Permaul 10-0-52-2 (w2), Smith 3-0-23-0 (w4, nb1), Pollard 2.1-0-12-0 (w1).
Result: West Indies won by 118 runs.
Toss: West Indies.
Players per side: 12 (11 batting, 11 fielding)
Umpires: Enamul Haque, Masudur Rahman.