Hope, Powell score half-centuries in Test warm-up
Shai Hope and Kieran Powell struck half-centuries on the opening day of the two-day tour match here yesterday as West Indies geared up for next week’s first Test against Bangladesh.
Opting to bat first against a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI, West Indies ended the day at the MA Aziz Stadium on 303 for six, with Hope topscoring with 88 and Powell getting 72.
Roston Chase chipped in with 35, while both Shane Dowrich and Shimron Hetmyer got 24.
Playing in their only warm-up match before the opening Test, the tourists lost captain Kraigg Brathwaite cheaply for six with the score on 11 in the seventh over of the day.
However, Hope and Powell then came together in a 163-run, secondwicket stand to lead the Windies recovery.
Hope faced 112 balls and struck 10 fours and three sixes, while the lefthanded Powell was more circumspect, counting six fours and a six in a 142-ball knock.
Hope retired hurt and Powell fell to a catch at the wicket off left-arm spinner Fazle Mahmud, paving the way for Chase, Hetmyer and Dowrich to spend valuable time at the crease.
West Indies will face Bangladesh in two Tests starting next Thursday at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here in Chittagong.
The tour also includes three One-Day Internationals and three T20 Internationals.