KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) – Kieran Powell narrowly missed out on a maiden first-class hundred in the second and final four-day ‘Test’ between West Indies–A and Pakistan-A yesterday.
The left-handed opener struck 98 to lead West Indies-A to 245 for four, replying to Pakistan-A’s first innings total of 261, on the second day of the match at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex.
Powell struck five fours and three sixes from 173 balls in just under four hours to lead the Windies-A batting.
Jonathan Carter supported with 44 not out, Assad Fudadin scored 37, and Kraigg Brathwaite made 21.
Zulfiqar Babar continued to be a thorn in Windies-A’s side with two for 70 from 20 overs.
Powell dominated an opening stand of 60 with Brathwaite, as Windies-A reached 61 for one at lunch.
Brathwaite was dismissed in the last half-hour before the interval, when he was stumped off Zulfiqar.
After the interval, West Indies-A suffered another setback, when Kirk Edwards was adjudged lbw to Zulfiqar for eight to leave the home team 74 for two.
But Fudadin joined Powell, and for close to two hours, they restored the balance of power with a stand of 91 for the third wicket either side of tea.
After Windies-A reached 152 for two at the break, they stumbled, when Fudadin was caught behind of Junaid Khan.
Carter came to the crease, but the spotlight fell on Powell, as he approached the milestone of 100, but Yasir Shah had him caught at mid-off to break his heart again.
Powell’s best score in first-class is 99 against Combined Campuses & Colleges two years ago on home soil in Nevis, which marked his first-class debut, and he has had no less than two other scores in the 90s.
Carter and Denesh Ramdin, not out on 18, spent the rest of the day carrying Windies-A to the verge of first innings lead.
Earlier, Brandon Bess and Shannon Gabriel shared the last three Pakistan-A wickets, as the visitors were dismissed inside the first hour.
Bess ended with two for 45 from 13.1 overs, and Gabriel finished with two for 52 from 21 overs.
Gabriel bowled Yasir Arafat for seven, after Pakistan-A resumed from their overnight 238 for seven.
Bess then brought the innings to a swift close, when he trapped Zulfiqar lbw for seven, and had Junaid caught behind for two.
The two-match series is level 0-0, after the first ‘Test’ ended in a draw last Sunday at the same venue.

PAKISTAN-A 1st innings (o/n 238 for seven)
K. Manzoor b Permaul    104
U. Khan lbw b Brown    41
S. Masood c wkp. Ramdin b Bernard    44
U. Amin c wkp. Ramdin b Gabriel    5
F. Iqbal lbw b Permaul    9
A. Sajjad c wkp. Ramdin b Permaul    0
S. Ahmed c Gabriel b Brown    21
Y. Arafat b Gabriel    7
Y. Shah not out    7
Z. Babar lbw b Bess    7
J. Khan c Ramdin b Bess    2
Extras: (b-4, lb-3, w-1, nb-6)    14
Total: (all out, 98.1 overs)    261
Fall of wickets: 1-68, 2-179, 3-201, 4-203, 5-207, 6-234, 7-234, 8-247, 9-257.
Bowling: Gabriel 21-5-52-2 (nb-1), Bess 13.1-2-45-2 (nb-2, w-1), Bernard 12-3-35-1 (nb-3), Permaul 31-11-68-3, Brown 21-6-54-2.

WEST INDIES-A 1st innings
K. Powell c Babar b Shah    98
K. Brathwaite stp. Ahmed b Babar    21
K. Edwards lbw b Babar    8
A. Fudadin c wkp. Ahmed b Khan    37
J. Carter not out    44
D. Ramdin not out    18
Extras: (b-8, lb-3, nb-8)    19
Total: (4 wkts, 75 overs)    245
Fall of wickets: 1-60, 2-74, 3-165, 4-204.
Bowling: Yasir Arafat 12-3-35-0 (nb-5), Junaid Khan 15-2-38-1 (nb-2), Zulfiqar Babar 20-3-70-2, Yasir Shah 24-1-81-1 (nb-1), Faisal Iqbal 4-1-10-0.