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.
-With The Daily Star input
