WEST Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite and Shamarh Brooks both made half-centuries in a total of 297-5 on day one of their tour match against a combined NSW and ACT XI.

The duo added 133 with captain Brathwaite (75 off 114 balls) and Brooks (56 off 116) getting on top of a young attack at Canberra’s EPC Solar Park, which included recent Australian U19 representatives Liam Doddrell and Jack Nisbet

Left-arm orthodox spinner Riley Ayre (3-70) made inroads to have the tourists 207-5 before all-rounder Jason Holder (50 n.o.) and Jermaine Blackwood (42 n.o.) took their side safely to the close of play.

The West Indies have two tour matches before the NRMA Test series against Australia begins in Perth on November 30 and will be keen to give their batters some valuable time at the crease before taking on the Aussies’ vaunted pace attack.

Brathwaite, Holder and Blackwood are mainstays of the West Indies side and their early tour success will be a boost to the visitors’ confidence
Brathwaite is the most experienced of the West Indies batters and is 13th on the all-time Test list for his country with 4 893 runs at an average of 34.45.

The 34-year-old Brooks did not make his Test debut until the age of 30 and has been in and out of the team in his short 11-Test career that includes a maiden century against Afghanistan in 2019.

Brooks is yet to open in a Test match for West Indies where he has batted at No.3 or in the middle order. (AAP)