All-round Samuels sets up easy victory

FATULLAH (Agencies) - Marlon Samuels slammed a century and then picked up two wickets to power the West Indians to a comprehensive victory over a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in a Twenty20 match here on Sunday. This was their last practice game before the series against Bangladesh kicks off on Tuesday. After choosing to bat, the visitors lost their openers early - Adrian Barath caught at gully for 4 and Lendl Simmons was dismissed for 12. There was little joy for BCB XI after that as Samuels and Andre Russell muscled 102 runs in little more than 10 overs. Samuels got his half-century off 33 deliveries with a drive to long-off while Russell reached his off 31 with a six over long-on. Samuels was explosive in the final four overs of the innings, blasting 41 runs including successive sixes in the penultimate over to take the West Indians to a challenging 195. BCB XI rarely looked likely to chase down the tall target, especially after Darren Sammy removed both openers cheaply. Their captain Shahriar Nafees and No. 4 Raqibul Hasan then made 20s but their scoring-rate wasnt rapid enough. The home side reached 71 for 3 in ten overs, but were further robbed of momentum after that as the West Indian spinners struck - only 16 runs came in the next five overs and the match was effectively over. Brief Scores: West Indians 195 for 3 (Samuels 102*, Russell 58) beat Bangladesh Cricket Board XI 120 for 6 (Samuels 2-18, Sammy 2-23) by 75 runs.

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