KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) – Rain continued to hamper West Indies-A and Pakistan-A in the opening four-day ‘Test’ yesterday.
A water-logged outfield due to overnight and early morning rain prevented West Indies-A from resuming on their overnight total of 216 for one in their first innings, and not a ball was bowled on the third day at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex. Similarly, not a ball was bowled after West Indies reached 63 without loss at the lunch interval on the opening day (Thursday), and wet conditions due to rain again delayed the start by two hours 40 minutes on the second day (Friday).
The inclement weather had also hampered the preparations of the teams on the eve of the match on Wednesday.
The weather forecast for today’s final day also looks bleak, with a 30 per cent chance rain predicted.
The two sides are also set to play a second four-day ‘Test’, starting this coming Wednesday at the same venue, and they will be hoping the weather improves significantly over the next few days. The match however, will be memorable for Kraigg Brathwaite.
The Windies-A opener kept his nerve, and came of age in the game on Friday, when he gathered his maiden first-class hundred.
The 17-year-old batting prodigy made hay while the sun shone, and satisfied his voracious appetite for runs with an undefeated 117 to anchor the Windies-A batting before bad light stopped play 10 overs early on the rain-shortened day.
Brathwaite, whose reputation for scoring hundreds is well documented in his native Barbados, shared an enterprising first wicket stand of 91 with Kieran Powell, who scored an even 50.
The teenaged opener then added 125 – unbroken – for the second wicket with compatriot Kirk Edwards, who was not out on 39.
West Indies-A won the preceding two-match Twenty20 series 1-0, with the first match ending in a tie, the same result as the first match of a three-match One-day series, which they lost 0-2 to the Pakistanis.