WINDIES STRONG START

Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Joshua Da Silva both squandered golden opportunities to notch their first hundreds of the tour, as West Indies ‘A’ dominated day one of the final four-day “Test” against Bangladesh ‘A’ at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.

The left-handed batsman, Chanderpaul top-scored with 83 while captain Da Silva delivered a fine 82, two of four half-centuries which helped the Caribbean side to 320 for six. Alick Athanaze struck 59 and fellow left-hander Raymond Reifer made an unbeaten 56, after they won the toss and chose to bat.

West Indies ‘A’ endured a nightmare start when they lost opener Kirk McKenzie without scoring and number three Zachary McCaskie was lost for one with only two runs on the board in the first three overs.

McKenzie fired a defensive shot behind off one from left-arm seamer Shoriful Islam which held its line while McCaskie got turned inside out by a Mushfik leg-cutter and also edged behind.

Chanderpaul put on 81 for the third wicket with Athanaze before adding a further 132 for the fourth with Da Silva, to stage a recovery.

Chanderpaul struck 9 fours and a six in a patient 160-ball stay while Athanaze faced 66 deliveries, counting 7 fours and 2 sixes in a fluent knock before perishing half-hour before lunch, brilliantly caught at slip by Mahmudul Hassan off Nasum, to leave West Indies ‘A’  at 98 for three at the interval.

Following the resumption, Da Silva combined well with Chanderpaul to keep the Bangladesh ‘A’ bowlers wicket-less in the second session.

Da Silva outscored Chanderpaul, transferring the pressure back to Bangladesh ‘A’ bowlers as he punched a dozen fours and 2 sixes in a 94-ball knock. He failed to add to his tea time score with West Indies ‘A’ on 215 for three, however, he was yorked by the very first delivery after the resumption from Nasum, leading to a slide which saw three wickets tumble for 45 runs.

Chanderpaul, unbeaten at tea time on 71, was caught at the wicket off Nasum and Tevin Imlach missed a straight one from Nasum and was lbw for ten.

Stumbling on 260 for six, West Indies ‘A’ once again showed their resilience, Reifer provided the rearguard action in a 90-ball innings which has so far featured 6 fours and a six. More importantly, he inspired a 60-run, unbroken seventh wicket stand with Kevin Sinclair, 22 not out, which frustrated the hosts’ attempts at further inroads in the final session.