KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC:
BANGLADESH SERVED the West Indies an early warning signal that they should not be taken lightly, when they won the opening match of their Caribbean tour by three wickets against a West Indies Cricket Board XI yesterday.
In a low-scoring affair, Bangladesh successfully chased down 136 to achieve victory in the 41st over, after the WICB XI were bowled out for a modest 135 from 45.3 overs.
Habibul Bashar, who inherited the Bangladesh captaincy in January this year from Khaled Mahmud, anchored the visitors with 47 before they slumped to 82 for six.
Mushfiqur Rahman with 25 not out and Khaled Mashud with 17 added 50 for the seventh wicket to get them back on track.
Pedro Collins took two wickets for 35 runs from nine overs and Dwight Washington two for 38 from nine for the WICB XI, who earlier batted poorly after choosing to bat on a typically easy-paced Arnos Vale pitch.
Ryan Hinds hit the top score of 48 and was the only batsman to get on top of the Bangladeshi bowling for any significant period of time.
Left-arm spin bowler Manjural Islam showed that he might be the main threat to the West Indies' unpredictable batting with four wickets for nine runs from 9.3 overs. Mahmud supported with three for 33 from his full allotment of 10 overs.
The first two one-day internationals of three between West Indies and Bangladesh will be contested at Arnos Vale on Saturday and Sunday.
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES BOARD XI INNINGS
W. Hinds c M. Islam b K. Mahmud 17
K. Wilkinson c M. Islam b Rahman 1
S. Joseph c Bashar b Mahmud 22
L. Simmons c Mashud b Mahmud 0
R. Hinds c Rahman b M. Islam 48
A. Richards c Rahman b M. Islam 4
C. Baugh c Rafique b M. Islam 16
D. Ramdin lbw M. Islam 1
D. Washington c Ashraful b M. Islam 10
P. Collins b Rafique 0
J. Lawson not out 4
Extras: lb6, w6 nb2 14
Total: (all out in 45.3 overs) 135
Fall: 1-7, 2-39, 3-40, 4-47, 5-54, 6-83, 7-88, 8-116, 9-122, 10-135
Bowling: Kumar 8-1-29-0, Rahman 8-0-31-1(1w), Mahmud 10-2-33-3 (2nb 3w), Rafique 10-3-27-3(2w), Manjural Islam 9.3-4-9-4.
BANGLADESH INNINGS
S. Hossain lbw Collins 0
M. Islam c Wilkinson b Collins 5
H. Bashar b Washington 47
Rajin Saleh Alam c Richards b W. Hinds 1
M.D. Ashraful c Wilkinson b R. Hinds 13
A. Kapali c Wilkinson b Lawson 3
K. Mashud c Ramdin b Lawson 17
K. Mahmud not out 2
Extras: b1, lb4, w9, nb9 23
Total: (for seven wkts off 41 overs) 136
Fall: 1-3, 2-45 3-56 4-68 5-81, 6-82, 7-132
Bowling: Collins 9-0-35-2 (4nb), Lawson 8-1-23-1 (2w), W. Hinds 6-1-11-1 (2w), Washington 91-2-38-2 (4nb, 2w), R. Hinds 9-1-24-1 (1nb 3w).
