Bangladeshis start tour with a win

Bangladeshis 136 for 7 (Habibul Bashar 47) beat WICB XI 135 (R Hinds 48, Manjural 4-9) by 3 wickets
Scorecard

The Bangladeshis began their tour of the West Indies with a morale-boosting three-wicket win against the West Indies Cricket Board XI. In a low-scoring match in St Vincent, the Board XI, with six international players in their ranks, won the toss and chose to bat on an easy-paced pitch, but were soon undone by the Bangladesh attack and were bowled out for just 135 in 45.3 overs. Bangladesh themselves stumbled in their run-chase, but Habibul Bashar, their captain, scored 47, while the lower order chipped in with some useful runs to ensure a victory with nine overs to spare.

Batting at his customary No. 3 position, Bashar consolidated the innings after Bangladesh had lost an early wicket. However, there was little support from the rest of the top order, and at 82 for 6, the Board XI had an opportunity to sneak a win. Mushfiqur Rahman and Khaled Mashud scotched those hopes with a 50-run stand that took the Bangladeshis to the brink of victory. Mashud was dismissed for 17, but Mushfiqur remained unbeaten on 25 to take his side home.

Earlier, Manjural Islam Rana, the left-arm spinner, and the former captain Khaled Mahmud combined to bundle the Board XI out cheaply. Mahmud (3 for 33) did the early damage, dismissing three of the top four batsmen, while Manjural wrapped up the tail to finish with the remarkable figures of 4 for 9 from 9.3 overs. Ryan Hinds was the only batsman to offer any resistance, making 48, the highest score of the match.

This was Bangladesh's only warm-up game before the one-day series, which starts with back-to-back matches here in St Vincent over the weekend.