BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – NEVIS’ star batsman Kieran Powell scored a half century yesterday (Nov. 1) as he and a number of other West Indies batsmen found form ahead of their Bangladesh tour.
The regional side played out a tame draw against Sagicor High Performance Centre (HPC) on the final day of their three-day training match at 3Ws Oval in Barbados.
Reports indicate that Powell’s 61 at the top of the order gave the West Indies a good platform to build on in their second innings.
Kieran Powell told media representatives in Barbados earlier this week that he is looking for a strong performance on West Indies’ tour of Bangladesh.
The Nevisian opener said he had learned a lot from his first full year of international cricket and was looking to put that knowledge to work in his approach to the game.
“I think in the previous series the performances started to shift and I am understanding more about what I need to do to be successful at this level,” Powell said.
“Also, watching players like Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle operate on a daily basis and see the way they go about doing things makes it a lot easier for me to know what I have to do to be successful,” he added.
Powell has played 11 Tests since making his debut in 2011, scoring 535 runs with an average of 25.47 and a highest score of 134; his only test century.
“There is always pressure in Test cricket, so I am just trying to alleviate the pressure in whatever way I can and try to make it as easy as possible for myself.
“As anyone else will have to do, I will have to score plenty runs and score them consistently so that I will let the selectors know that I welcome the opportunity to play and that I am hungry for success,” he told reporters.
Powell added that he expects to improve from the previous series, which was played against New Zealand.
The regional cricketers are scheduled to wing out for Bangladesh today (Nov. 2) to play two Tests, five One Day Internationals and one Twenty20 International.
The first Test will be played from November 13 to 17 at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, in Mirpur.
