Windies let Bulls out of pen

West Indies reached 13 without loss, replying to Queensland’s first innings total of 323, but Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s mood would have darkened like the increasingly overcast skies that halted play five overs early.

The West Indies captain and his team-mates learnt that Wavell Hinds had sustained a fractured left little finger fielding earlier in the day, and has been ruled out of action until the Second Test in Hobart in the middle of November.

In their only warm-up match before the first Test against Australia, beginning next Thursday at the Gabba, the visitors chose to rest three key fast bowlers — Corey Collymore, Jermaine Lawson, and Fidel Edwards — but would have hardly missed the trio if the Caribbean side had held on to the chances offered after a penetrative spell from Daren Powell had reduced the home team to 146 for six. Powell, one of only three of the originally selected players who chose to go on the tour of Sri Lanka three months ago, had put West Indies in control by mid-afternoon, after Queensland chose to bat.

Striding in with real purpose and maintaining a full length to batsmen more comfortable playing on the back foot early in the day, Powell bowled himself into contention for a spot in the final 11 of the reunited team to take on Ricky Ponting’s men in less than a week’s time, by claiming four wickets for 58 runs from 14 overs. He could not replicate the performance however, in the latter half of the day because of what has been described as a slight hip injury which forced him to leave the field after tea.

In his absence, 21-year-old Ryan Le Loux, in just his second First-Class match, top-scored for the Bulls with 63 before he was last out, caught and bowled pulling at Dwayne Bravo to give the all-rounder his third wicket. Selected primarily for his role as a leg-spinner, Le Loux played the major role in the last three wickets adding 140 runs to the immense frustration of the Caribbean side.