Gayle smashes ton in warmup win

The West Indies enjoyed an emphatic 173-run over an inexperienced Gujarat President’s XI in Ahmedabad, with Chris Gayle smashing a hundred and Runako Morton and Wavell Hinds striking rapid fifties.

Opener Gayle faced just 76 balls for his score of 101, and added 177 for the second wicket with Morton, who made 91, before Gayle retired.

The pair took advantage of some indifferent Gujarati bowling to club 27 boundaries between them, including seven maximums.

The assault continued through Hinds’ 61 from 58 balls, while there were also useful contributions from stand-in captain Ramnaresh Sarwan (37) and Marlon Samuels (21) to take the West Indians to 344 for five.

The Gujarat reply was solid at best, tepid at worst. Only Niraj Patel, who made 37, appeared to be able to cope with a battery of West Indian medium-pacers ideally suited to the slower Asian surfaces.

Corey Collymore, Dwayne Smith and Dwayne Bravo each claimed two wickets, while off-spinner Samuels conceded just 17 runs from his ten overs.

A dogged rearguard from Hem Joshipura (32) and Hemal Watekar (23) saw Gujarat trudge over the finish line on 171 for six.

West Indians 344-5 (50 overs)
Chris Gayle 101 retired hurt, Runako Morton 91, Wavell Hinds 61, Ashraf Makda 3-65

West Indies won by 173 runs

Gujurat President’s XI 171-6 (50 overs)

Up north in Mohali, Bangladesh made just as easy work of an altogether more experienced Punjab Cricket Association outfit.

Batting first, the home side slumped to 57 for four to Syed Rasel’s left-arm pace, before the Tigers’ spinners strangled the opposition in the middle-overs.

Promising youngster Udal Kaul did however apply himself and graft 47, an innings largely responsible for raising the PCA side to 179-8 before Farhad Reza polished off the tail.

Chasing 206, Bangladesh lost the out of form Mohammad Ashraful early on for just 6, but Shahriar Nafees’gutsy 29 paved the way for Aftab Ahmed and Saqibul Hasan to steal the show. A

ftab crunched 76 from just 71 balls, clearing the ropes twice in doing so, while Saqibul compiled an assured 66 not out to see the Tigers home with seven wickets and nine overs to spare.

Punjab Cricket Association President’s XI 207 all out (49.1 overs)
Syed Rasel 3-38, Farhad Reza 3-32

Bangladesh won by 7 wickets

Bangladeshis 206-3 (41 overs)
Aftab Ahmed 76, Saqibul Hasan 66 not out