West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite hit 85, but the rest of the visitors batsmen struggled against the BCB XI on the first day of their three-day warm-up at MA Aziz Stadium in Chattogram.
Brathwaite continued 187 balls to hit ten fours as he showed typical doggedness on a slow pitch overall. He felt he had to stay as low as possible due to a lack of bounce and was sometimes forced to use his feet against the spinners.
“It was a decent pub,” he said. “I was happy with the time I spent in the middle. I just have to keep working hard. I wouldn’t say it’s difficult conditions. The boys bowled well. Obviously the wicket was slow and low, to be honest. You had to watch the ball long. But it was going to happen.
“You need to make sure you have sound protection, and trust in it throughout the pubs. I had to use my feet on some occasions. Since the bounce was low, I didn’t want to get up too early. “
Brathwaitte added 67 for the opening wicket with John Campbell and struck out four fours in his 44 off 73 balls. But from 110-1, the West Indies slipped to 131-5 as the middle order of Shayne Moseley, Nkrumah Bonner, Jermaine Blackwood and Kavem Hodge went out cheap.
Moseley and Hodge are newcomers who played their first innings on tour, while Bonner, who made just two, had earlier played in the ODI series. Blackwood, billed as one of the main batting supporters in this West Indies side, scored just nine.
It was only after Joshua da Silva, Kyle Mayers and Alzarri Joseph made scores of 20, 40 and 25 that the visitors surpassed the 250 run mark.
For the BCB XI, leg spinner Rishad Hossain grabbed five wickets, while controller Khaled Ahmed picked up three. The other two were raised by Saif Hassan and Shahadat Hossain. They kept the home team’s strategy of not playing any left-arm spinners against the visitors in the warm-up game.
Later, BCB XI openers Saif and Shadman Islam ensured they went to stems with no losses, ending with 24-0 batting for eight overs (ESPNCricinfo).