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Picked in the Champions Trophy squad alongside Saeed Ajmal and part-time options like Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, Abdur Rehman may not be a certainty in Pakistan’s first-choice XI. However, the left-arm spinner who last played an ODI in September 2012, said he was optimistic about his chances of playing in England because of his county experience.”I am not concerned about being in the playing XI, as it is a decision they [coach and the captain] take after reading the conditions before the match,” Rehman said during the ongoing training camp in Abbottabad. “But spinners have a definite role in England. Every team has at least two spinners and they have as equal an opportunity to take wickets as fast bowlers. If I get a chance to play, I will definitely make a difference.”Rehman, 33, had experience of English conditions during his short stint for Somerset last summer. In four championship matches he took 27 wickets at an average of 14.18. His best performance came against Worcestershire, when he picked up nine wickets in the first innings and finished with a 14-wicket haul in the match. He also took nine wickets in three CB40 matches, with a personal best of 6 for 16 against Nottinghamshire.”I have gained plenty of experience from my county stint last year and this gives me an edge,” Rehman said. “Though I haven’t played international cricket in a long time, I have been practising regularly. I know I will play in the shadow of Saeed Ajmal, but I will try my best to contribute to the success of the team.”Rehman made headlines last year when he was banned for 12 weeks after testing positive for cannabis during the county season. He completed his ban in December, but missed the tour to India and the Champions League T20 for his side Sialkot Stallions. He was part of the squad for the tour to South Africa but was not picked for any of the Tests or ODIs.”During the South Africa tour, I didn’t play in the team as it was a decision taken by the team management and I have no hard feelings,” Rehman said. “The combination that played there was the best possible one. As far as I am concerned, I didn’t lose hope and was equally active in South Africa and here.”On the third day of the Abbottabad camp, there were a few rain interruptions but the batsmen had ample practice. Mohammad Hafeez’s back-foot punch, perhaps his favourite shot, has brought him many runs but he has generally struggled against seam bowling outside the subcontinent. On Saturday, Hafeez had an individual batting session with assistant coach Shahid Aslam and worked on facing swinging deliveries.”I am working on my normal technique,” Hafeez said. “It’s not like we are here to do something special in these five to six days, but the main objective is to acclimatise with the conditions that we will face in the next one-and-a-half months.”As players, we have to improve performances ourselves with the help of the support staff. We have a good blend of young and experienced players in the team who are capable of producing a good result.”

Joe Root has been named captain of the England Lions team to play New Zealand in a four-day game in Leicester from May 9.Root was scheduled to captain the Lions on their limited-overs tour of Australia, but was instead called-up to the senior squad. James Taylor, who captained in his place, remains part of the Lions team.Among the more intriguing selections is a recall for Michael Carberry, who played one Test in Bangladesh in early 2010, as well as Ravi Bopara and Toby Roland-Jones. The team, which will be coached by England’s limited-overs coach Ashley Giles, contains three players from Warwickshire, the club he coached to the County Championship title last year: Chris Woakes, Chris Wright and Varun Chopra.Jonny Bairstow will keep wicket, in a move that suggests he is currently considered Matt Prior’s deputy in Test cricket. Yorkshire and Warwickshire provide five of the 11 players.England’s eagerness to give Root the captaincy once again illustrates how highly the regard the qualities of a player who seems mature beyond his years in cricketing terms.”With a busy summer of Test cricket ahead, this fixture against New Zealand is an excellent opportunity for our players to show us that they are capable of representing England in the longer format of the game,” said Geoff Miller, the national selector. “Joe Root will lead the side in order to assist his development as a cricketer and provide him with valuable experience of captaincy against quality opposition.”Ashley Giles, England’s one-day coach, will join the management team for the match as he casts an eye over players who are competing for places in England’s Champions Trophy squad this summer.England Lions Team: Joe Root capt, Jonny Bairstow (both Yorkshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Varun Chopra (Warwickshire), Simon Kerrigan (Lancashire), Graham Onions (Durham), Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Chris Wright (Warwickshire).

It has been an extraordinary few days in the life of Peter Fulton. A maiden Test hundred on Friday, then another century to make it back-to-back tons in the same match on Monday, then being included in a tweet by John Key, New Zealand’s Prime Minister.His post had gone unnoticed by Fulton, until it was mentioned after play. “I’m not on Twitter,” he said. “I hadn’t heard that. I guess that’s one to cross off the list.”In front of his parents, and an increasingly large band of supporters, Fulton wrote himself a place in New Zealand’s history books with a crunching straight six off Stuart Broad, to become just the fourth New Zealand batsman – after Glenn Turner, Geoff Howarth and Andrew Jones – to score twin hundreds in a Test. Small boundaries or not, it was a mighty blow with which to reach a landmark.His second fifty took 41 balls, as the confidence and adrenalin surged through him. Gone was the understandable nervousness of his maiden hundred, during which he sweated on 99 for 10 balls, with his last 36 runs taking 143 balls. The situation had changed, and so did the batsman, which showed that Fulton is not just someone to grind out an innings. An over against Monty Panesar changed the tempo as he took the left-arm spinner for 14 off three deliveries. From then he was unstoppable, until clubbing to long-on for 110.”I thought if he [Broad] pitches it up, I’m going to try and hit it back over his head,” he said. “It’s just one of those things, I just wanted to get there and make sure we kept being aggressive. I didn’t want to slow down too much looking for a personal milestone.””The first innings was a bit nervy, and I’d decided when we came out after lunch that I’d just play the same way as I had before, regardless of what score I was on. It made for slightly less of a nerve racking time for myself anyway.”Early on during the onslaught, Matt Prior thought it was a decent time to mention the lack of runs Fulton had scored through the off side – in the first innings he made 107 of his 136 on the leg side, second time around it was a 64-46 split. There were not many words from the England team when he launched a skimming flat six over long-off against James Anderson.”I guess everyone would like to be able to score to all parts of the ground, but you’ve got to make do with what you’ve got,” he said. “I can play through the off side, but I guess I’ve already been out three times trying to play through the off side in the series. It’s probably a bit silly to keep trying to flog a dead horse. It was nice once I’d got myself in to play a few through the off side. I’m not really too bothered where they come, or what direction they go in, as long as I get them.””The situation of the game helped, it’s a bit tougher to play like that on day one. You hit one straight up in the air, and you get castigated for it. It was nice to show a few people, who don’t watch a lot of domestic cricket, that I can bat like that, and adapt to the situation.”Fulton has helped give the team stability in an area they had floundered for a long time. Hundreds by openers had become a collector’s item, and now there are three in a series for only the second time for New Zealand. Fulton’s part could so easily have not happened, at the age of 34, especially after a knee injury in South Africa curtailed his first attempt at a comeback late last year. “Hopefully it proves if you keep sticking at it, and you don’t lose faith in yourself, then good things can happen.”

ScorecardNitish Kumar made a controlled 89 as Canada built a solid total on the first day of the bottom-of-the-table encounter with Kenya.He batted for most of the day and compiled a 143-ball fifty, flicking a ball to fine-leg to bring up the milestone. His 205-ball stay included eight fours and was the cornerstone of the innings, which was moving nicely at 166 for 2 after Canada had been sent in to bat.But Shem Ngoche took two wickets in consecutive overs to check the progress. The first, Raza-ur-Rehman who made a 103-ball 51; the second, a beauty to dismiss captain Jimmy Hansra, who recorded a fifth-ball duck.Canada pressed on with Nitish and Damodar Daesrath sharing 74 for the fifth-wicket, before Kenya responded with the second new ball. Daesrath was caught at second slip and then, with six overs remaining in the day, Nitish finally departed, caught behind off Nelson Odhiambo.

Bangladesh’s pre-tour misery continued after Shahriar Nafees’ hand injury ruled him out of the Test series against Sri Lanka. Nafees told the chief selector, Akram Khan, of his lack of confidence in gripping the bat comfortably. He will be replaced by Mohammad Ashraful who has scored two centuries this domestic season. Ashraful is making a comeback into the Test side after 15 months.”Shahriar Nafees had a freak accident at home couple of days ago, so hehas withdrawn from the tour,” coach Shane Jurgensen said. “He will beborder-line for the first Test, so we want to ensure that we go into theTest series with a settled group, so Mohammad Ashraful will replace him.”Nafees injured his left palm while trying to clean his bat with a sharpobject on Monday and required stitches. Physio Vibhav said on Tuesday that Nafees would be fit in time for the first Test, but the decision remainedwith the batsman.”As far as Shahriar Nafees is concerned, I don’t thinkit [the injury] would be a big problem,” Singh said. “His stitch should be removed in seven days time and he can start batting after 10 days. We just need toalter his training schedule.”The physio’s schedule would have meant Nafees being ready to bat on March7, the day before the first Test, but it is clear the Bangladeshmanagement are unwilling to travel to Sri Lanka with a player unlikely forthe practice match before the Test. Already, Tamim Iqbal’s wrist injury means hecould be rested for the three-day game in Matara to have him fully fit forthe Test.Nafees’ replacement has also created some confusion. Ashraful wasnot in the 25-man preliminary squad, having been kept out due to his inconsistency. Captain Mushfiqur Rahim however said that thebatsman’s experience in Sri Lanka and his recent centuries in the BCL andBPL have given him confidence.”We need someone like him in the sidebecause we have plenty of newcomers like Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque andMarshall Ayub,” Mushfiqur said. “He has also made runs in Sri Lanka and is currently indecent form, so I hope his confidence will be better and he can be apositive to the side.”

ScorecardThe West Indies-Sri Lanka game turned out to be not much of a contest•MIG Club

A flamboyant knock of 171 from opener Stafanie Taylor helped West Indies Women crush Sri Lanka Women by 209 runs in a Group A match at the MIG Ground in Mumbai. Taylor’s hundred and a powerful, 20-ball 50 from Deandra Dottin took West Indies to 368 for 8, their highest ODI score. In reply, Sri Lanka were dismissed for 159 runs with ten overs to spare, giving the West Indies their first win of the tournament.Taylor, who was named the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2012 and the Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2011, also broke her own record for the highest individual score by a West Indian batsman in women’s cricket, surpassing her innings of 147 against Netherlands in 2010.West Indies got off to a flying start after Sri Lanka chose to field. Kycia Knight and Taylor scored 19 runs in the first two overs, helped partly by some wayward bowling from Sri Lanka. Taylor was the more subdued of the duo in the early overs, as Knight went after the bowling, especially medium-pacer Sripali Weerakkody who conceded 25 runs in her first three overs.By the time spin was introduced, Taylor was well-settled and, in spite of losing Kycia and Shemaine Campbelle quickly, kept the momentum going. She used her feet well against the spinners, coming down the track or stepping on the backfoot to cut through the offside. The right-hand batsman brought up her 50 with a lofted drive over mid-off and, when the scoring rate slipped a little, hit a six over long-on. Her partnership of 110 runs with the other Knight sister, Kyshona, steadied the West Indies innings. Taylor toyed with the Sri Lankan attack, scoring a flurry of fours and sixes before she brought up her fourth ODI hundred off 97 balls.It was a run-out which broke the partnership as Kyshona was dismissed for 44 by a direct hit from Deepika Ranasangika on the first ball of the 34th over bowled by Eshani Kaushalya. The run-out didn’t fluster Taylor, who dispatched the next two deliveries for fours. New batsman Deandra Dottin lived up to her reputation of a hard-hitting batsman coming into this World Cup, clobbering a huge six over long-on, off her first ball. Kaushalya was struck for 16 runs in that over.Dottin was in her element when the Powerplay began in the 36th over. She struck two fours and a six and followed that up with two consecutive fours in the next over, struck so hard that she had to change her bat. Sri Lanka were sloppy, missing two run-out chances of Taylor in the 38th over, even as the overthrows and wides they bowled cost them 14 runs. With the opposition running out of bowling options, Dottin struck two more sixes to add to their agony, one of these almost landing in the balcony of a neighbouring residential building.When Sherina Ravikumar eventually dismissed Dottin, the pair had put on an astounding 90 runs in almost six overs, of which 71 came in the powerplay overs. West Indies lost a couple of quick wickets after Dottin’s exit before Taylor was joined by captain Merissa Aguilleira. The duo punished the Lankan bowlers a little more, striking a 55-run partnership in just 28 balls. Taylor was eventually dismissed for 171, and her knock included 18 fours and two sixes. Aguilleira scored an unbeaten 47 as West Indies reached a daunting score of 368.Needing more than seven runs an over, the Sri Lankan innings quickly fell into disarray. The opening partnership lasted just 25 balls and with the West Indies bowlers holding a steady line outside the off stump, the pressure kept mounting. Left-arm seamer Shanel Daley struck twice in her first spell, leaving Sri Lanka reeling at 51 for 3 in the 12th over. Prasadani Weerakkody anchored the innings with a patient knock of 22, but found herself running out of partners. Legspinner Shaquana Quintyne ended her stay at the crease with a brilliant catch off her own bowling. She picked up two more wickets to finish with figures of 3 for 32. Offspinner Anisa Mohammed stifled the batsmen with her flight, enhanced by her high-arm action, conceding only 10 runs in 5.2 overs and picking up one wicket.The seventh-wicket partnership between Dilani Manodara and Deepika Rasangika was worth 37 runs but, by then, Sri Lanka were almost out of the contest. Rasangika’s 25-ball 28 only delayed the inevitable and Sri Lanka held on for another ten overs before West Indies prevailed.

ScorecardAlex Hales smashed eight sixes in his 89•Getty Images

An astonishing innings from Alex Hales, studded with eight sixes, installed the Melbourne Renegades as firm favourites to claim the BBL crown and ended the Sydney Sixers’ defence of their title. Hales, fresh off the plane from the UK having been flown in to replace the injured Marlon Samuels, smashed 89 from 52 balls to guide the Renegades to a match-winning total of 178 after they elected to bat. It was a one-sided affair as the Sixers fell 29 short.Many wondered how the Renegades batting would fare without their dominant captain Aaron Finch, absent with international duties, but Hales answered that with a hailstorm of sixes – eight in all, along with five fours.The Renegades started poorly when the out-of-form Daniel Harris faced nine balls for just one run, before being stumped off the Sri Lanka offspinner Sachithra Senanayake. Hales also began cautiously, managing three runs from his first 11 balls, before tearing into Josh Hazlewood. He clubbed two fours, two sixes, and was dropped by the bowler in his follow-through in a frenetic fifth over. Alex Doolan fell off the first ball of the next to leave the Renegades at 2 for 38 after the Powerplay.It brought Ben Rohrer to the crease. The acting Renegades captain was released by the Sixers after the Champions League and has proved a brilliant acquisition for the Melbourne side. He continued his red-hot form, combining with Hales for a 112-run partnership in just 10.3 overs. Rohrer found the gaps while Hales peppered the crowd with big hits, with both gaining reprieves from a woeful Sixers fielding effort.Steve O’Keefe felt the brunt of Hales’ brutality. Twice in the 11th over, Hales slog swept O’Keefe into the Members Stand. Then in the 15th Hales clobbered O’Keefe again, clearing the fence four times. One landing on the roof of the Members Stand was measured at 111m, with the following ball travelling 109m in the same direction. Hales holed out to Moises Henriques in the next over but the damage was done.Rohrer quietly passed fifty for the second time in the tournament, off just 33 deliveries. The Renegades scored 113 from the last ten overs, the anomaly being that Senanayake and Brett Lee each bowled their full quota of four overs for just 19 runs, with the other four bowlers getting smashed for more than 11 runs-per-over.The Sixers’ chase started horrendously, losing four for 46 inside seven overs. Three fell meekly pulling soft catches to midwicket. The exception was Nic Maddinson who nicked Nathan Rimmington to the keeper.O’Keefe arrived, intent on erasing the 50 runs he conceded with the ball. He played some unorthodox strokes, found the rope five times and cleared it once. Hales gave him a life when he lost the ball in the lights at deep midwicket.O’Keefe’s unorthodoxy proved his undoing. He walked well outside the off stump to paddle Darren Pattinson fine, only to find the keeper’s gloves, although replays suggested it might have been pad rather than bat causing the deflection. Daniel Smith holed out to Pattinson in the same over to give the seamer his third scalp.Rimmington returned to clean up Senanayake and Hazlewood to also claim three wickets. The Renegades’ 29-run win was all the more impressive, given the absences of Finch, Samuels, and Muttiah Muralitharan who was rested. Asylum-seeker Fawad Ahmed got an opportunity to play his first professional match in Australia, in Murali’s place, to cap an uplifting night for the Melbourne side. They now wait to see who they will host a home semi-final next Tuesday.

ScorecardAli Murtaza scored a century at No.8 and took four wickets to put Uttar Pradesh in a strong position against Tamil Nadu at the Chemplast Ground in Chennai. Tamil Nadu were struggling at 149 for 6 in the face of UP’s 392. Resuming on 279 for 6, the UP lower order resisted thanks to Murtaza, who added 120 with Prashant Gupta. Murtaza hit ten fours and three sixes in his 106, before he was dismissed by the offspinner Malolan Rangarajan, who took four wickets. The Tamil Nadu top order made starts but couldn’t carry on, and the hosts had lost half their side for 128.
ScorecardCenturies by Aditya Waghmode and Kedar Devdhar helped Baroda to 362 and in reply Maharashtra lost three wickets but ended the day on a steady note. Devdhar, unbeaten on 104 overnight, didn’t add to his score when he was run-out by Akshay Darekar. Waghmode went on to score 113 before he was caught behind off Samad Fallah. Shrikant Mundhe wrapped up the innings to finish with 4 for 72. Maharashtra lost three wickets by the 25th over, but the opener Harshad Khadiwale ensured some stability with an unbeaten 69, with Ankit Bawne for company.
ScorecardFourteen wickets fell on the second day in Cuttack, as Odisha were sent crashing to 121 after keeping Vidarbha to 206. Vidarbha ended the opening day at 188 for 8 and could add only 18 more before being bowled out. Odisha got off to a poor start, losing their openers for ducks to the seamer Sandeep Singh. All six bowlers claimed wickets, with Sandeep finishing with 4 for 39. The highest partnership for the innings was the 35 for the fifth wicket between Natraj Behera and Govind Podder. Vidarbha gained an 85-run first-innings lead and they extended it to 149, but lost their openers, including Shiv Sunder Das, towards the end of the day.
ScorecardRead the report here.

Selection panel support for Ricky Ponting’s place in the Australian Test team remains unanimous, and the coach Mickey Arthur has stated emphatically that the former captain is still a much-needed component in plans for next year’s Ashes series.In a staunch defence of Ponting, Arthur said there had been no discussion about his place in the team in the selection meeting to choose an extended squad for the third Test against South Africa in Perth, and that the panel’s eyes were still on Ponting’s usefulness over the next six months, leading into the first of two back-to-back bouts with England.”All I know is inside that dressing room, and privately, we’ve all backed Ricky Ponting,” Arthur said. “If Ricky’s scoring runs, we certainly want Ricky Ponting around for the next six months. We want Ricky Ponting to go to the Ashes, there’s no doubt about that. Like any batsman, though, you’ve got to keep scoring runs, and that’s by Ricky’s own admission. I’m 100% sure and confident Ricky will come through in Perth.”We’re hoping, we back Ricky, we unanimously back Ricky Ponting to get us some runs. By his own admission Perth is a big test for him … but Ricky’s prepared brilliantly, he’s really given us everything we can possibly ask for.”Ponting, who has been named captain of the Prime Minister’s XI to play West Indies in Canberra on January 29, had said he expected to discuss his future with the selectors ahead of the Perth Test, given a poor run of scores in this series despite entering it as the highest run-scorer in the Sheffield Shield. Ponting seemed bothered by the manner of his dismissals as much as his low scores, possibly intuiting the signs that his famously decisive batting had lost a small but critical measure of sharpness at international level.Former captain Ian Chappell, still an influential figure in Australian cricket and close to the selector Rod Marsh in particular, believes Perth should be the final stop in Ponting’s career, allowing a younger batsman, likely to be Phillip Hughes or Usman Khawaja, to re-establish themselves in the team against Sri Lanka, ahead of assignments in India and England.”I think the selectors should say to Ricky Ponting, ‘Mate we’re happy to give you a fond farewell in Perth, but you’ve got to announce your retirement before the game’, for the obvious reason that the selectors could get badly embarrassed if he goes well,” Chappell told ESPNcricinfo. “But if you do it that way it then gives the selectors the opportunity to play a couple of the younger players.”You’ve got Hughes making some runs, Khawaja now starting to make some runs. They come in against Sri Lanka, and as a selector what you’re trying to do is give young players the best possible chance to succeed, so I think that would be the ideal thing for Australian cricket – to finish it off in Perth.”Rob Quiney’s exit from the squad for the third Test may mean a swift end to his fleeting moment on the international circuit. Arthur said Quiney remained a part of the selectors’ wider plans, but significantly mentioned Hughes and Khawaja as the next men in line, based on the form they have displayed in domestic matches this season.”Rob Quiney knocked the door down and got selected on the form he showed throughout our local domestic competition and that’s the way we as a panel always want to go,” Arthur said. “You’ve got to reward good domestic cricket form. I had a quick chat to Rob, he’s been simply outstanding with everything he’s done since he’s arrived in our group.”Obviously he didn’t get the runs he wanted but for everything else he’s been outstanding. The message to him is keep knocking the door down because you never know what’s around the corner and if he keeps his name up in lights he’ll certainly get another crack at some stage.”At this stage Quiney is right up there and I guess you can’t look past Phillip Hughes, and Usman Khawaja is making a really good case as well. We’ve got some young players who have a taste of international cricket and when called up, or when needed, ready to step into the breach.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shivnarine Chanderpaul reached Test century No. 26•AFP

Two left-handers, the youngest and oldest members of their side, combined to put West Indies in a dominant position on the first day in Mirpur. Bangladesh, playing their first Test this year, were competitive before lunch but faded against Kieran Powell and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who struck centuries on a good batting pitch. The highlight on a tough day for the hosts was the performance of debutant offspinner Sohag Gazi, who overcame the worst-possible initiation into Test cricket to finish with three wickets.Powell and Chanderpaul batted determinedly after West Indies lost three wickets in the morning session. Unlike Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, who got carried away after impressive starts, West Indies’ two centurions focused on occupying the crease and seeing off the first few overs after the break when Bangladesh were still fresh from a wicket at the stroke of lunch. The first seven overs after the break yielded no boundaries, but Bangladesh could only contain for so long, as the pair gradually began to open up, calmly, without taking any undue risks.Tall, solid in defence, Powell lacks flourish in his shot-making but is an excellent timer of the ball. That was on plentiful display, especially against the seamers, as was some adept footwork against Bangladesh’s army of spinners. He was strong off the back foot against spin but also stepped out, launching Gazi over the in-field and driving him through the covers. His timing stood out against pace, and there were several opportunities thanks to a generous dose of overpitched deliveries from seamers Shahadat Hossain and Rubel Hossain. Extra cover, mid-off, mid-on and midwicket were his preferred scoring areas; he drove Shahadat for three consecutive boundaries in his new spell after lunch, and had displayed similar confidence in the morning as well.When the field spread, Powell picked singles comfortably through point and deep square leg, showed no signs of nervousness as he approached three-figures and reached the landmark – his second in Tests – with a paddle past fine leg. At one stage after lunch, Powell and Chanderpaul hit 11 fours in eight overs. The bowling alternated between pace and spin and then stayed with spin, as captain Mushfiqur Rahim began shuffling his bowlers. There was turn but not much bounce, and nothing significantly threatening to the two set batsmen.Powell had a reprieve when on 7, when he was caught after the ball ricocheted off the silly-point fielder’s helmet, which according to the rules does not constitute a wicket. He was eventually bowled by the bowler who created that chance, Gazi got Powell for 117 when he missed a pull after tea, but Chanderpaul, who was part of a 125-run stand, by then had prepared himself for a long stay.Chanderpaul’s innings was typically workmanlike. He moved around the crease, swept, tickled the ball to the fine-leg boundary and was especially harsh when the spinners provided him with width, slashing them with ease past point. Just as Powell had done after lunch, Chanderpaul accelerated after tea, collecting four boundaries off Shakib Al Hasan’s left-arm spin all round the ground. His opportunistic streak produced two boundaries in an over off Rubel – one of a full toss, the other just a firm push down the ground with the field up.Chanderpaul’s only moment of insecurity before reaching his century was the boundary that took him to 95, a nervy chip that fell just short of mid-on. A scoreboard error meant he celebrated prematurely after clipping Nasir Hossain for a four, taking off his helmet, raising his arms and kissing the ground, but reached his 26th Test ton next ball with a single. Denesh Ramdin gave Chanderpaul good company in another productive stand, collecting some easy boundaries off short deliveries doled out by Rubel, and reached his own fifty before the close.The runs flowed in the morning as well. Chris Gayle may forget the moment but the debutant Gazi will likely remember it for the rest of his life as the first ball of the Test was smashed for a six over long-on. Gazi’s first over went for 18, but Mushfiqur continued with him, pushed long-off back and, soon enough, Gayle stepped out to loft one inside-out straight to the fielder. Gazi had a role to play in each of the three dismissals before lunch. He also got rid of Darren Bravo and caught Samuels at deep square leg; both batsmen had built promising stands with Powell, but it was their most illustrious team-mate who guided Powell and West Indies to a position of control.