SYLHET, Bangladesh, CMC – A half-century from Brandon King and an enterprising unbroken partnership between their captain Joshua Da Silva and all-rounder Akeem Jordan enabled West Indies “A” to overcome a crisis of confidence and land a three-wicket win against hosts Bangladesh “A” in the second “Test” yesterday.
King hit the top score of 54 but the Caribbean side needed an unbroken eighth wicket partnership of 41 between Da Silva and Jordan to take them past a victory target of 190 in their second innings on the final day of the four-day, first-class match at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
Da Silva was not out on 47 for the second time in the match, Jordan was not out on 22, and the visitors got that same score from opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul and left-hander Raymon Reifer to seal the deal and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
This unfolded after Kevin Sinclair took two of the last four Bangladeshi wickets to end with five for 79 from 26 overs, and the home team were bowled out for 297 in their second innings in the first half-hour of play.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles off-spinner ended with match figures of seven for 123 to earn the Player-of-the-Match award, and speedster Jair McAllister aided with the demolition of the Bangladesh “A” lower order, finishing with two for 42 from 10.4 overs after the home team started the day on 274 for six.
West Indies “A” then stumbled to 70 for five with left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam and off-spinner Saif Hassan carving up their top order, but Da Silva came to the crease and put them firmly on course to win with a stand of 76 for the sixth wicket with King.
The two scored at a shade over five runs an over, and King confidently brought up his 50 from 70 balls with a languid lofted drive off Tanvir over long-off for one of his two sixes.
His 1-3/4 hours stay at the crease also yielded half-dozen fours from 78 balls before Tanvir got him caught at silly mid-off from the bat and pad, playing defensively forward, and the same bowler got Sinclair three balls later caught behind for four.
West Indies “A” still needed 40, and Jordan came out and again gave further proof of his ability with the bat, slamming two fours and one six to hasten the visitors to the finish line over the next seven overs with Da Silva.
Tanvir was the pick of the Bangladesh “A” bowlers, taking four for 52 from 13 overs, and Saif bagged two for 24 from six overs.
The final match in the series starts Tuesday at the same venue, where the first match ended in a draw last Friday.
