West Indies were given a ritualistic welcome to the country despite
their shortcomings as the BCB XI simply surrendered in the practice
match at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium yesterday.
The visitors won
by 65 runs after going past their own struggles with the bat to score
217 for nine in 45 overs (after being unnecessarily put into bat).
Later, their combination of brisk pace and leg-spin gave the home
batsmen too much trouble as they rolled over for just 152 in 41 overs.
The
visitors' struggle on these wickets against spin and their inability to
pace their innings was apparent, though Rampaul's four-wicket haul is a
forewarning of things to come, namely fast short-pitched bowling.
The
rot began when Junaed Siddiqui fell leg-before to Darren Sammy in the
second over of the chase. Immediately afterwards, Mohammad Ashraful and
Shahriar Nafees looked comfortable against the West Indies skipper but
Ravi Rampaul's back-breaking bounce and Andre Russell's discipline
stalled the duo. The pair added 43 for the second wicket with Ashraful
scoring the bulk of the runs despite Nafees hogging more of the strike.
Ashraful
struck six boundaries in his 29-ball 32 but while his first four
boundaries were of class, two others showed his intent, that of needless
aggression against the short ball. He succumbed to a dab towards
third-man which he tried several times during his short stay.
What followed was another poor reflection of the batsmen's mindset as they couldn't negotiate the short stuff.
After
Nafees swept Anthony Martin to square-leg to end his misery (16 off 51
balls), Shuvogoto Hom Chowdhury, Naeem Islam and Nasir Hossain all fell
while trying to play a pull shot.
Alok Kapali's 41 off 54 balls
with the help of three boundaries was an innings that would do him the
favour of finding a place in the ODI squad that will announced after the
Twenty20 international later this week.
West Indies, earlier in
the day, batted on two gears after being put into bat: watchful at the
start before going for broke at every opportunity.
Their need for
adjustment to the local conditions, the heat especially, was paramount
and it was evident at the way the openers Lendl Simmons and Kieran
Powell batted. But with the innings going nowhere, Simmons winded up at
the first sight of a loose delivery in the seventh over, only to see his
ferocious square-cut go straight to Nasir Hossain at point off Robiul
Islam. Powell was the first who misread the wicket and went after
Naeem's off-spin even after being dropped while playing the same shot as
he was dismissed, at the same place.
A 59-run stand between
Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels followed but that too flickered between a
very cautious approach and bravado. Bravo eventually missed the
half-century by three runs when he too was caught straight down the
ground after he hit five sweet boundaries and a six in his 74-ball
knock. Samuels's innings ended similarly when he too chipped it right
down long-on's throat for 30 while Danza Hyatt's first outing in the
sub-continent ended after he struck a four and a straight six in his
19-ball 14.
The next partnership gave the visitors some
respectability as Denesh Ramdin and skipper Sammy added 57 for the sixth
wicket out of which 23 were taken from one Robiul over, but the manner
of the wicketkeeper's dismissal left everyone at the ground bemused.
Ramdin
miscued a double-bouncing Ashraful delivery into the hands of long-off
where Shuvogoto Hom Chowdhury ran in to take a good catch, ending the
wicketkeeper's stay. It encouraged the West Indians to see one of them
apply himself, but the T&T man too left too early.
Ashraful's
surprise call-up to the attack was prompted as Nafees didn't have Naeem
to bowl his remaining overs, but it was productive as his combination of
slow cutters got him three wickets in two overs. It was Kapali however
who was the pick of the bowlers, the leg-spinner picking up two for 32
from his nine overs.
The two sides next play a practice Twenty20 at the same venue on Sunday before the series proper begins on Tuesday.
BRIEF SCORES
WEST INDIES: 217-9 in 45 overs (Bravo 47, Samuels 30, Ramdin 30; Ashraful 3-9, Kapali 2-32).
BCB XI: 152 all out in 41 overs (Kapali 41, Ashraful 32; Rampaul 4-23, Samuels 2-28).
Result: West Indies won by 65 runs.
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