CMC – Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Test counterpart Joshua Da Silva both squandered golden opportunities to notch their first hundreds of the tour, as West Indies A dominated Tuesday’s day one of the final four-day “Test” against Bangladesh A.
The left-handed Chanderpaul top-scored with 83 at the top of the order while captain Da Silva chipped in with a fine 82, two of four half-centuries which helped the Caribbean side to 320 for six at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
Alick Athanaze also struck 59 and fellow left-hander Raymon Reifer an unbeaten 56, to further underline the touring side’s dominance after they won the toss and chose to bat.

Nasum Ahmed, a 28-year-old left-arm spinner who has played 40 white-ball internationals, finished with three for 92 while 20-year-old rookie seamer Mushfik Hasan claimed two for 50.
Entering the contest with a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after winning the last “Test”, West Indies A endured a nightmare start when they lost in-form opener Kirk McKenzie without scoring and number three Zachary McCaskie for one, with only two runs on the board in the three over of the morning.
McKenzie feathered a defensive shot behind off one from left-arm seamer, Shoriful Islam, which held its line while McCaskie, on his West Indies A debut, got turned inside out by a Mushfik leg-cutter and also edged behind.

Any hopes of running through the West Indies A top order were then quickly squashed, however, as Chanderpaul put on 81 for the third wicket with Athanaze before adding a further 132 for the fourth with Da Silva, to stage a recovery.
Chanderpaul struck nine fours and a six in a patient 160-ball stay while Athanaze faced 66 deliveries and counted seven fours and two sixes in a fluent knock before perishing half-hour before lunch, brilliantly caught at slip by Mahmudul Hasan off Nasum, to leave West Indies A 98 for three at the interval.

There was no further erosion following the resumption, Da Silva combining well with Chanderpaul to keep the Bangladesh A bowlers wicket-less in the second session.
Da Silva easily outscored Chanderpaul, transferring the pressure back on Bangladesh A’s bowlers as he punched a dozen fours and a brace of sixes in a 94-ball knock.
He failed to add to his tea time score with West Indies A on 215 for three, however, yorked by the very first delivery after the resumption from Nasum, leading to a slide which saw three wickets tumble for 45 runs.

Chanderpaul, unbeaten at tea on 71, was caught at the wicket off Nasum and Tevin Imlach missed a straight one from Nasum and was lbw for 10.
Stumbling on 260 for six, West Indies A once again showed their resilience, Reifer provided the rearguard action in a 90-ball innings which has so far featured half-dozen fours and a six.
More importantly, he inspired a 60-run, unbroken seventh wicket stand with Kevin Sinclair (22 not out), which frustrated the hosts’ attempts at further inroads in the final session.

WEST INDIES “A” 1st Innings
T Chanderpaul c wkp Nurul Hasan b Mushfik Hasan 83
K McKenzie c wkp Nurul Hasan b Shoriful Islam 0
Z McCaskie c wkp Nurul Hasan b Mushfik Hasan 1
A Athanaze c Mahmudul Hasan b Nasum Ahmed 59
*+J Da Silva b Nasum Ahmed 82
R Reifer not out 56
T Imlach lbw b Nasum Ahmed 10
K Sinclair not out 22
Extras (lb5, w2) 7
TOTAL (6 wkts, 82 overs) 320
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-83, 4-215, 5-241, 6-260
To bat: A Jordan, V Permaul, A Phillip.
Bowling: Mushfik Hasan 13-4-50-2, Shoriful Islam 13-1-58-1, Tanzim Hasan 15-1-53-0, Saif Hasan 12-2-49-0, Nasum Ahmed 26-5-92-3, Mominul Haque 2-1-11-0, Mahmudul Hasan 1-0-2-0.
BANGLADESH A – *Saif Hasan, Shahadat Hossain, Yasir Ali, Nasum Ahmed, Mahmudul Hasan, +Nurul Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Mominul Haque, Tanzim Hasan, Zakir Hasan, Mushfik Hasan.