Big total key to Windies’ chances

Roston Chase of the West Indies bats during day four of the second Test between Pakistan and the West Indies at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka (CMC): WEST INDIES A made a stuttering start to the opening unofficial one-day international (ODI) against Sri Lanka A before rain intervened to end play prematurely at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium here yesterday.

Opting to bat first, the Caribbean side had reached 69 for two in the 13th over, with opener Kyle Hope unbeaten on 28 and Andre Fletcher on seven. The game will be concluded on today’s reserve day.

Head coach Graeme West rued the weather interruption and said West Indies A would need to find their momentum again on what was a good batting track, if they were to put Sri Lanka A under pressure.

“We got ourselves into a good position with some positive batting, and we’ll certainly need more of the same tomorrow,” West said afterwards.

“It looks a good wicket, (there’s) not much happening for the spinners and it’s pretty slow for the quicks, so we need to build around Kyle Hope and Andre Fletcher ... and set something up for some of the positive players to come later on in the innings and try and post something that will put the Sri Lankans under pressure.

“They’ve certainly got an experienced and powerful top six themselves so we’ll certainly need a big score to put them under pressure.”

The right-handed Hope put on 40 for the first wicket with Chadwick Walton, who made 16 from 12 balls with two fours and a six, before falling in the sixth over.

Hope, who has counted four boundaries in a 39ball innings, then added a further 23 with left-hander Assad Fudadin, who scored 14 off 10 deliveries with two fours and a six, before perishing in the eighth over.

The game is the first of a three-match series against the hosts, with Jason Mohammed leading the unit.

West Indies A, under the leadership of Shamarh Brooks, suffered a 2-1 defeat in the three-match, four-day Test series, which ended last week. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ‘Y’ Speedos Swim Club 336 Tornadoes Swim Club 301 Stingray Swim Club 199 Marlins Swim Club 155 Blue Seal Swim Club 125 Swimaz Aquatic Swim Club 94 Blue Marlin Swim Club 32 Sailfish Swim Academy 18 Dolphins Swim Cubi 8 Royals Swim Club 5

– coach