Rain saves Bangladesh the blushes

For the West Indies, the first one-day international at Chittagong was a curious dichotomy of both shabby and scintillating cricket, the division occurring not so much because of the failures of a few as because two players staggeringly outperformed the rest.

That certainly wasn't expected when the tourists were put in to bat; with the top order in a fine vein of form, it looked like a bad decision from Khaled Mashud, even if he did look to the hard pitch and the gloomy conditions as defence. When Wavell Hinds began systematically taking the attack apart four overs into the innings, old-timers may have recalled WG Grace's remark about batting first: "If you win the toss, choose to bat. If you're doubtful, think about putting the other side in and then choose to bat."

But Mashud's gamble paid off - at least initially. Hinds was caught at long-off trying to smash a Manjural Islam slower ball over the border into India. Twenty-six runs later, a frustrated Marlon Samuels lashed out at a flighted Mohammad Rafique delivery only to find sweeper cover. By now, spin was operating at both ends, and the West Indians started to struggle.

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle, both immensely successful in India, sweated to work the leg-spin of Mohammad Ashraful, the left-arm spin of Rafique and the off-spin of Naimur Rahman off the square. The singles dried up, the pressure built palpably, and when Gayle (38, 70b, 5x4) was finally run-out looking for a non-existent single, it was hardly a surprise.

Flown in as a replacement for the injured Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Daren Ganga was, unlike his teammates, clearly new to the subcontinental conditions. Stroke after stroke found only the fielders, and considering that he found Ashraful in particular difficult to pick, it was perhaps an aberration that Sarwan (39, 66b, 1x4) fell to the leggie instead, uppishly driving to extra cover.

The arrival of Ricardo Powell to the crease signalled the turn. Rotating the strike with deceptive ease, Powell upped the run-rate almost immediately, even inspiring enough confidence in Ganga to smite two big sixes. An intended third found long-on, but Ganga (44, 56b, 2x6) had done his share of reconstruction.

Powell then came alive. Boundaries flowed regularly as the big-hitting batsman muscled the ball as many as six times over the ropes, and seven more times just short of it. Two sixes came off one Rafique over, and when he fell off the penultimate ball of the innings - trying, perhaps, to do a Youhana and get to three figures off the last ball - he had powered his way to 88 off just 50 balls. More importantly, he saw the West Indies to a total that - at 145 off 37 overs - looked near-impossible.

The deep quality chasm continued into the West Indian bowling. At one end, Vasbert Drakes did everything but make the ball talk, using the pitch and the new ball to get bounce and sharp movement either way. At the other end, however, short balls, over-pitched deliveries and other run-scoring opportunities were generously sent down by Jermaine Lawson and Corey Collymore.

Of the openers, Hannan Sarkar was the first to fall, caught behind as the extra bounce took the edge. Al Sahariar followed 19 runs later, a peach of a delivery nipping off the pitch between bat and pad to clip middle stump.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Ashraful, Test cricket's youngest centurion, was occupying himself at the other end by throwing the bat at virtually everything. Starting with a mighty pull to midwicket off his very first ball, he added a top-edged six to fine leg and three more pulled fours later on.

He lost Habibul Bashar in the ninth over - when the batsman tried to cut too hard and presented Jacobs his second catch of the innings - but was was soon back in the pavilion himself. Drakes pitched the ball just outside off and moved it away a shade, drawing the batsman forward. The ball took the shoulder of the bat and flew rapidly to the right of Gayle at slip, who took a fine, gangly-looking, diving catch. That gave Drakes all four of the Bangladeshi wickets to fall.

As Drakes was taken off - and bowlers such as Mahendra Nagamootoo and Gayle started to operate - the innings steadied. Sanwar Hossain and Alok Kapali made identical scores of 18 off 21 balls and added 38 runs for the fifth wicket when rain interrupted proceedings with Bangladesh on 90 for four. It never let up, and after the umpires waited in vain for it to clear up, they were forced to abandon the game, leaving it to the remaining two day-nighters in Dhaka to decide the series.