Bangladesh “A” vs West Indies “A”
Day 2; 2nd “Test”
Venue: Sylet International Cricket Stadium 2
Toss: West Indies won and bowled
Scorecard: https://www.windiescricket.com/matches/216455/#scorecard
Fast bowler Akeem Jordan continued his good season with the ball as he grabbed five wickets to give West Indies A the advantage of their hosts on Wednesday. He claimed 5-45, just outside his career-best of 5-44 for Barbados Price as the home team lost their last five wickets for 62 runs after resuming the morning on 175-5.
Shahadat Hossain, who started the day on 25, carried the fight for his side with a top score of 73, which came from 124 balls and included 10 fours and two sixes. On 199-8, Shahadat inspired a 34-run, ninth-wicket stand with Tanvir Islam (4) to revive the innings, before fast bowlers Jair McAllister and Jordan picked up the last two wickets.
“I was more consistent today than on the first day so I reaped the reward for consistency. Coming into the day we had a simple plan to try and build as much pressure in the earlier stages and look to force the batsmen to make errors,” Jordan said. “There was a lot more grass coverage on this pitch than in the first match, so I tried to use that to my advantage, by hitting the right areas, and getting more nip off the surface.”
Replying to Bangladesh A’s 237, West Indies will resume the third day on 268-6 – a lead of 31 runs.
Left-hander Kirk McKenzie made 91 off 122 balls with nine fours and three sixes. The free-scoring left-hander built a particularly formidable partnership of 116 runs with Raymon Reifer (37 from 78 balls) for the second wicket. McKenzie surpassed fifty for the fourth time in five innings at the first-class level but narrowly missed out on three figures. In his four previous innings, he had scores of 50, 0, 221 and 86.
McKenzie said: “I came into this game with confidence. I played pretty well in the first match so that gave me the belief, along with the fact that the ball was coming onto the bat quite nicely and there are no real devils in the pitch. Getting so close to a hundred and getting out was again a bit disappointing, but I have to keep my head up and look to capitalize when I get my next opportunity.”
After the partnership between Mckenzie and Reifer, Alick Athanaze came to the crease to continue his own good form, scoring 45 off 60 balls. Keacy Carty was the other standout with the bat. Having not featured in the XI for the first “Test’, he was eager to get some runs under his belt in Bangladesh and did just that in a knock of 68 (111 balls). The Bangladesh bowlers split the wickets, with Saif Hasan (2-37) being the standout.
Play will begin on the third day at 9:45 am local time (11:45 pm Wednesday Eastern Caribbean/10:45 pm Wednesday Jamaica). The three-match series is level 0-0 after the opening contest ended in a draw last Friday.