WI keep ace in the pack as warm-up ends in draw

The West Indies team management seemed to be hiding their main weapon, off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall, who took five wickets in the first innings. The big man did not bowl a single over during BCB XI's second innings on the final day of the three-day warm-up match, which ended in a draw at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chattogram yesterday.

The visitors seemed to opt for the same ploy as the hosts, who did not include any left-arm spinner – considered Bangladesh's main weapon against the West Indies -- in the BCB XI. The Caribbean side is well aware that the likes of Shadman Islam, Saif Hasan, and Yasir Ali are part of the 18-member Bangladesh squad and Cornwall is expected to play a big role for the West Indies in the first of the two Tests starting from February 3.

Cornwall's performance aside, there are many positives to take for the West Indies. The likes of skipper Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell and Nkruma Bonner spent a significant amount of time at the crease and scored fifties.

For BCB XI, after being all out for just 160 in reply to 257 from West Indies in the first innings, the likes of Shadman and Yasir did manage to spend a decent amount of time with the bat in the second innings and remained unbeaten on 23 and 33 runs respectively.

The two skippers – Brathwaite and Nurul Hasan – decided to end proceedings an hour before stumps with BCB XI on 63 for two.

The home side had earlier bundled out the visitors for 297 in the second innings.

Young pacer Mukidul Islam was the pick of the bowlers and bagged four while another pacer Khaled Ahmed bagged three to end with a match haul of six.