Chanderpaul leads batting as West Indies A make 320-6 on opening day
Bangladesh “A” vs West Indies “A”
Day 1; 3rd “Test”
Venue: Sylhet International Cricket Stadium
Toss: West Indies won and batted
Scorecard: https://www.windiescricket.com/matches/216456/#scorecard
Led by Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Joshua Da Silva West Indies “A” team turned in a solid batting performance on the opening day of the third contest against Bangladesh “A” team on Tuesday.
Left-handed opener Chanderpaul top-scored with 83 at the top of the order while captain Da Silva made a fine 82, two of four half-centuries which helped the visitors to 320-6. Alick Athanaze struck 59 and fellow left-hander Raymon Reifer, an unbeaten 56, to further underline the after Da Silva won the toss and chose to bat on a hot day as temparatures reached 37 Degrees Celsius.
Chanderpaul struck nine fours and a six in a patient 160-ball stay while Athanaze faced 66 balls and counted seven fours and two sixes in a fluent knock before he fell half-hour before lunch, brilliantly caught at slip by Mahmudul Hasan off Nasum, to leave West Indies A 98-3 at the interval.
“The pitch has some grass on it, so I tried to get through the new ball and then build the innings for the team. The longer I spent at the crease that made the scoring easier. The weather was really hot today, so I had to dig really deep. I would have really liked to reach three figures, but to get 83 and do the job for the team was good … hopefully I could get the century if we bat again,” said Chanderpaul, who also made 83 in the first innings of the first match at the same venue.
Da Silva combined well with Chanderpaul to keep the home side wicket-less in the second session. Da Silva outscored Chanderpaul as he hit 12 boundaries and two sixes in a 94-ball knock. He failed to add to his tea-time score with West Indies A on 215-3 when 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.
West Indies A then found themselves ta 260-6. Reifer provided the rearguard action in a 90-ball innings which has so far featured six fours and a six. He inspired a 60-run, unbroken seventh wicket stand with Kevin Sinclair (22 not out) and they will resume when the match continues on Wednesday at 10am (12 midnight Eastern Caribbean/11pm Tuesday Jamaica).
-ENDS-