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Given Australia’s inexperience in Bangladesh conditions – none of their 14 players have played a Test here before – and the hosts’ record at home of late, Steven Smith is wary of picking favourites for the two-Test series, stressing that this will be a tough outing.There is also the matter of Australia’s recent record in the subcontinent. The Bangladesh series, Australia’s first tour of the country since 2006, gives Smith and his team a chance to improve on their 2-1 series loss to India earlier this year, while adding more consistency to their overall performance.”I think it is going to be a great series,” Smith said, at a press conference after Australia’s arrival in Bangladesh. “Bangladesh are very good here. I am not picking a favourite. We have to be confident in our skill set and hopefully we can get our processes right and have a really good series.”Now it is an opportunity for us to change [our record in the subcontinent]. I thought we did some things really well in India. We just needed to do it for little bit longer, and consistently. This is another opportunity to showcase our skills, show what we learned over there and hopefully give our best foot forward.”The series will also be something of a testing site for Australia’s squad, particularly the bowling attack, with an eye on the 2021 tour of India. Smith shed light on the reasons behind Steve O’Keefe’s omission from the Bangladesh tour, despite a good performance in India, and on Ashton Agar’s likely role as a second spinner after Nathan Lyon.”He [Steve O’Keefe] is unlucky. He did very well in the first Test match in India. He made contributions in the other three Tests,” he said. “We just see it as a bit of a time to try and get someone new into the group.”Ashton has been around for quite a while now. He has worked on his art and become consistent. It will be fantastic to see him get an opportunity. It is obviously four years till we travel to India. It is always a tough tour for us. It is the series that I want to win in my tenure as captain, so it is an opportunity for Ashton get some experience in this condition with an eye to next time we go to India.”Smith pointed out that keeping the pressure on Bangladesh senior players would be key to his team’s chances. Bangladesh have never beaten Australia in Tests.”[Shakib, Tamim and Mushfiqur] have played a lot of cricket and understand their game really well. They are dangerous so we have to be on top of them if we are going to have success.”

Pakistan’s left-arm spinning allrounder Imad Wasim has risen to the top of the ICC’s T20I rankings for bowlers. Imad displaced South Africa’s Imran Tahir, who dropped two positions to third following a poor performance in his side’s series defeat to England. The legspinner had claimed the No. 1 ranking in January but leaking 75 runs in his last seven overs, for only one wicket, has not helped his cause.As a result, Imad, enjoyed his first spell at the top of the T20I bowlers rankings. India’s Jasprit Bumrah occupied second place. Among the other big movers were Tahir’s South Africa team-mate Chris Morris, who jumped up 32 places to the 29th spot, and England’s Liam Plunkett, who rose 26 places to No. 38.England, who had begun their series against South Africa, ranked No. 2 along with Pakistan, now have sole ownership of that position. New Zealand remain the top-ranked team in T20Is.AB de Villiers, who topped the batting charts in the England series with 146 runs, returned to the top 20 in the batsman’s rankings, climbing up 12 places. England opener Jason Roy, who put behind a disappointing Champions Trophy with 103 runs in three T20Is, was rewarded with a career-best 25th position. Virat Kohli continues to be the No. 1-ranked batsman, followed by Aaron Finch and Kane Williamson.England gained two points after their 2-1 victory over South Africa, allowing them to take control of the second spot on the team rankings. Although they had held the same position earlier, it had been together with Pakistan, who have now dropped to No. 3.

ScorecardOn Friday, Luke Wells returned from a knee injury to play his first match for eight months. He was greeted by one of the worst sights for a batsman in cricket: a 90 mph inswinging yorker from Kagiso Rabada down the slope at Hove. As he trudged off for a golden duck, Wells laughed at his own ill fortune in receiving such a delivery. The sport can be cruel like that.But it can also give generously, enough to make up for all the fallow and infuriating times. For Wells, this was such a day: the best of his cricketing career yet, and the sort that he might never repeat.It was not merely about the runs he scored, all 258 of them. It was about the manner in which he scored them. Wells, a batsman with a reputation for adhesive defence, was transformed into a hitter of brutal belligerence.Consider how he handled the 87th over of the day, from Ryan Pringle’s offspin. First, Wells used his huge stride to gallivant down the wicket and heave an emphatic straight six, a shot of such dominance that Graham Clark, at long-off, was reduced to applauding. Then, he pulled Pringle over square leg for another six. Next, staying in his crease, he again launched him straight, this time into the hospitality seating at long-off for a third consecutive six.The fourth ball scuppered hopes of an encore of Garry Sobers’ feat at Swansea in 1968, but it brought no relief for Pringle – Wells’ late, precise square cut still went for four. So did a slog-sweep the following ball. In the circumstances, Pringle could be forgiven for delivering an egregious full toss, which Wells launched over midwicket for another six and, with it, brought up his maiden 250. As if that was not bad enough for Durham, the final delivery was a no-ball to boot. Wells, almost repentant for inflicting such misery upon his opponent, defended the extra ball into the off side, promoting sarcastic cries of “Get on with it” from a few heady supporters.Thirty-four runs had come from Pringle’s over, and 32 from Wells’s bat: not bad for a player ordinarily considered a first-class specialist, and whose top score in 50-over or Twenty20 cricket is just 23.So imperious was his batsmanship that Stiaan van Zyl was reduced to the role of incidental extra even as he scored an undefeated 141; at one point, Wells scored a full fifty, to progress from 157 to 207, while van Zyl faced a solitary ball.If the carnage was not expected of Wells, capitalising on his start was: this was his 36th first-class score over 50, and the 14th time he has converted it to a century. And it was built upon familiar foundations: the assiduous leaves against the new ball; the impeccable straight bat; the driving, especially straight, interspersed with cuts and leg-side flicks. Then, like a gawky teenager discovering alcohol for the first time, Wells experienced a new and thrilling sensation; as he flicked Chris Rushworth over fine leg with no discernible effort, one of his seven sixes, he must have felt a man intoxicated.All the while, van Zyl carried on too. If his century was forgettable set against carnage at the other end, it contributed to history: a partnership of 376, the highest ever third-wicket stand against Durham. The previous highest? That would be Trevor Penney and Brian Lara in 1994, when Lara was en route to his 501. In the closing stages of his innings, Wells felt almost as dominant.By the time he scythed Paul Coughlin to Keaton Jennings to be dismissed, Wells had also made family history, usurping his father Alan’s career best: “I’ve always wanted to beat him in something.”Intriguingly, he credited his red-ball best to intensive training in limited-overs cricket, in an attempt to force his way back into the side. “The white-ball practice that I’ve been doing with Mike Yardy and the other guys has really been paying off – especially against the spinners I feel a lot more dynamic. I can score at a better rate now without taking any undue risks – just natural batting.” It is a window into how the norms of modern batting are being peeled back, and even batsmen renowned as austere are capable of pyrotechnics.Though van Zyl was altogether more restrained, he gave evidence of why he had earned 12 Tests for South Africa. He used his feet dextrously against Pringle and late cut exquisitely against seam to record his maiden Championship century for Sussex. Only just after reaching the landmark, when edging Pringle to Paul Collingwood, who shelled a tricky catch at first slip, did he offer a chance. Wells was chanceless throughout; Sussex utterly imperious.It seemed an age ago that Graham Onions had found away movement to snare Chris Nash with the morning’s fourth ball. His back injury, rendering him unable to bowl, was a cause and symbol of Durham’s dreadful day.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:10

Bangar: Rising Pune have fitted their jigsaw

Ben Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat have been pivotal to Rising Pune Supergiant’s surge up the IPL points table, and their efforts on a dry, up-and-down pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium led them to second with a 12-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad. It was Sunrisers’ first home defeat of the season.Stokes energised a moribund Pune innings with 39 off 25 balls, and his innings, along with 31 off 21 from MS Dhoni, gave them a total of 148 and a fighting chance. Then, bowling cross-seam and extracting inconsistent bounce, Stokes took three key wickets – Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson and David Warner – to ensure Sunrisers never took control of the chase.They were never entirely out of it either, though, and when Unadkat began the last over, they needed 13 runs with four wickets in hand. Incredibly, Unadkat bowled a maiden took a hat-trick to end with figures of 5 for 30.Won’t concede boundaries, won’t take catchesThe first big moment of the game was a bit of quality fielding. Rahul Tripathi, flicking Ashish Nehra to the left of short fine-leg, set off immediately. Perhaps he didn’t factor in Bipul Sharma’s left-handedness. Bipul moved quickly to the ball, took aim, and hit direct at the striker’s end with Tripathi not even close to regaining his ground.It was the only bit of quality fielding in the Powerplay, though; Bipul dropped a sitter at the same position to let off Steven Smith, Siddarth Kaul did not move at mid-on when Ajinkya Rahane spooned a possible catch towards him, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, diving to his left at short fine leg, gave Smith a second life.Maybe it was deliberate from Sunrisers, for apart from a Rahane six over long-on, off Moises Henriques, there were no boundaries in the first 10 overs. There was little attacking intent as well, with Rahane and Smith content to milk leg-side singles for most part. After 10 overs, Rising Pune were 51 for 2.Getty Images

Stokes, Dhoni and the power differenceSmith ended up facing 39 balls without hitting a four or a six. At the post-match presentation, he noted the difficulty of timing the ball, and praised the contributions of his team’s “stronger boys”. Stokes was one of them – he hit three sixes in his 39 – and MS Dhoni the other.Before this game, against the quicker bowlers, Dhoni had scored 75 off 35 balls when they had pitched it full or short, but only 43 off 52 balls off the in-between lengths. Initially, the Sunrisers seamers kept pitching it on a good length or just short of a good length, and Dhoni was batting on 10 off 14 balls at the 18-overs mark. Uncharacteristically, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who lost his length, feeding him two short balls and an overpitched wide ball in the 19th over, and Dhoni spanked them for 4, 6 and 6.The cross-seam masterclassWhen Stokes came into the attack, Sunrisers were 25 for 0 after two expensive overs from Unadkat, who kept providing width to Dhawan and Warner, and two quiet overs from Washington Sundar, who kept denying them width. Stokes struck with his first ball and his third, both legcutters. One, bowled cross-seam, hit the shiny side, skidded low, and bowled Dhawan. The other, hitting the seam, bounced extra and kissed Williamson’s glove.Giving himself room against Washington in the next over, Warner hit the offspinner for three fours, but Stokes made sure Sunrisers wouldn’t claw things back too quickly, only conceding two off his second over.Unadkat ends Sunrisers fightbackTaking Stokes’ cue, Shardul Thakur and Daniel Christian mixed up slower balls with cross-seam deliveries, and in tandem with Imran Tahir kept Warner and Yuvraj Singh relatively quiet, with the odd boundary keeping the teams neck-and-neck. Stokes returned in the 13th over and derived extra bounce again; Warner failing to keep down a slash, picked out sweeper cover. When Tahir bowled Henriques with a googly, Sunrisers needed 53 from 36.By the time Unadkat came back to bowl the 18th over, the equation read 32 off 18, with Yuvraj on 47. Both Yuvraj and Naman Ojha fell in that over, caught by sweeper cover, failing to generate enough power against Unadkat’s slower ball.Three twos in Stokes’ final over left Sunrisers needing 13 off 6. They would end up getting 0 for 3 off those six balls, their lower order finding no way of dealing with Unadkat’s slower ball. He kept pitching them at a length that was too short to hit down the ground and not short enough to pull. Bipul Sharma, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar all holed out, one after another, getting far more elevation and far less distance than they desired, and what should have been a tense final over turned into a rout.

Sharjeel Khan appeared before a three-man tribunal set up to hear the alleged corruption charges laid against him, on Friday. Khalid Latif, his team-mate for Pakistan and Islamabad United and similarly implicated, did not appear, however. He cited health reasons, forcing the postponement of his hearing by a week on the condition that no future adjournment would be granted.Sharjeel and his lawyer agreed to the timelines to be adopted under the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code, with the formal hearing set for May 15 in Lahore. He was given a deadline of May 5 to respond to the alleged code-of-conduct breaches he and Latif were accused of during the PSL. The PCB said in a release that it “may, at its discretion, file a rebuttal by May 10”.The tribunal extended Latif’s date, asking him to appear on March 31 to chalk out a timeline for the formal hearing. “He made an application for adjournment via email to the Chairman of the Tribunal citing health reasons and requesting that proceedings be adjourned to next week,” a PCB statement said. “In the interest of justice the request is allowed and the proceedings in respect of Khalid are adjourned to 11:30am on 31st March 2017. Notice would also be issued with a stipulation that no further adjournment would be granted.”The tribunal, comprising Justice (retired) Asghar Haider (head of the tribunal), former PCB chairman Tauqir Zia and former wicketkeeper Wasim Bari, met at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. “The Tribunal in consultation with both parties agreed upon the procedure and timelines to be adopted under the Anti-Corruption Code,” the PCB said. “PCB shall submit its opening brief detailing its claims along with the evidence to be relied on by 14th April 2017.”It is understood that Nasir Jamshed, who was arrested in the UK in relation to the same case, was in touch with both Latif and Sharjeel during the PSL. The PCB, as part of its prosecution, will send two officials to travel to the UK to question Jamshed.”This time period (until April 14) has been agreed in order to give the PCB ACU an opportunity to travel to UK to interview Nasir Jamshed and meet with relevant UK authorities and determine if any of its findings are to be incorporated in the prosecution,” PCB’s release stated.Sharjeel and Latif were provisionally suspended last month under the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code as part of an investigation into an organisation’s alleged attempts to corrupt the second season of the PSL. Both players had denied some of the alleged breaches they were accused of but admitted to at least one of the more minor charges.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza wants his batsmen to continue converting starts into big scores, like how “big teams do”, in order to push totals higher. Tamim Iqbal’s 127 played a major role in Bangladesh reaching their second highest ODI total, 324 for 5, in the first match in Dambulla.Tamim supported Sabbir Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan who made rapid half-centuries. They have lost only once out of ten occasions in which they have scored more than 300 runs.Bangladesh’s best batsmen, though, have a poor conversion rate. Tamim has scored eight ODI hundreds from 42 50-plus scores in his career. Shakib has six hundreds and 33 fifties, while Mushfiqur Rahim has four hundreds and 23 fifties.Among the younger players, Soumya Sarkar has scored one century and four fifties in his 21 ODIs. In ten of those innings, he has scored between 20 and 40. Sabbir meanwhile hasn’t struck a century in 33 ODIs, scoring just four fifties.”[Our strength playing abroad] has to be our batting,” Mashrafe said. “We wanted our batsmen to cross the 50 to 70-run mark and get a big score. It was a learning curve for us. Sabbir missed out in the last game but Tamim got to a big hundred. It makes winning easier when someone does that.”It is a good lesson for us. The batsmen should learn how to convert 50-60 into a hundred, which is what big teams do. We have to learn this continuously, and ensure that we keep doing this. Finishing is also an important matter, which has helped us get to that score.”Mashrafe said they are applying some of the lessons they learned from New Zealand, where they pushed the home side in the second and third ODIs with good starts but couldn’t quite win games.”After the England ODI series which was our last ODI series at home, I said that the different challenge will start in New Zealand,” Mashrafe said. “But we couldn’t win there, despite creating opportunities.”We won the second Test and the first ODI here. We will improve slowly. Other teams also took time to win abroad. New Zealand was difficult for us but that experience will work for us here,” he said.Bangladesh are mulling over a different combination in the second ODI, considering how much grass was left on the Dambulla pitch on the eve of the game. Sri Lanka have also added two pace bowlers to their squad.”I think the wicket will be good for batting,” Mashrafe said. “In the sub-continent you have to keep a lot of grass to make a wicket that suits the fast bowlers. We will have a look at the grass tomorrow, and whether they have watered it or not. We also have to find out if the wicket ends up as soft or hard.”We have always broken our winning combination against India and South Africa in 2015. The wicket tomorrow may be different, so we have to keep that in mind,” he said.

USA wicketkeeper-batsman Akeem Dodson has pinned the team’s batting struggles against Canada during the Auty Cup on a mental block that needs to be cleared before the team opens up ICC WCL Division Four in two weeks. Dodson, who top-scored with 73 in USA’s 17-run loss, believes his side but needs a little more time to get comfortable in their new roles to establish a winning mentality.”I think for us right now that area is a mental battle more than it is a physical one,” Dodson said of USA’s batting struggles in the two losses to Canada at Woodley Park on Thursday and Friday. “I think the players themselves need to get set in their roles. Once they’re set in their roles and in their position, they’ll start to play much more fluidly, like the players we’re accustomed to seeing most of the time.”I think we can probably compare it to those first couple of games in Ireland [at the 2015 World T20 Qualifier] where we hadn’t gotten into stride yet and we were losing and no one knew which way to go. But all we needed was that one game to get it right and have things clicking and then everyone was all set, three in a row after that. The same thing needs to happen here.”Dodson and opener Fahad Babar added 127 runs for the fourth-wicket, a USA record, but the batting looked bleak after that with all but Dodson, Babar and Elmore Hutchinson – who made 37 not out – failing to reach double figures.Dodson said the team is trying to remain upbeat taking into consideration the standard of competition Canada provides, sitting above USA in Division Three. “Canada is still a level ahead of us so to be competing with them right now where we’re at to be getting better day by day is definitely a plus for us,” Dodson said. “We need to make we keep improving and keep getting better by the time we come up against the other Division Four teams.””So far I think our biggest lesson we’re learning is how long the 50-over game actually is. For guys who are used to playing 40 overs, when you’re playing 50-overs now especially against top opposition, you start to realize this 50-over game takes a bit of time and a bit of temperament batting and bowling to settle yourself and take your time, assess the game, move forward and close it out.”USA has also been affected by the absence of allrounder Timroy Allen and fast bowler Ali Khan during the Auty Cup. Allen had to withdraw due to personal reasons, while Khan suffered a hamstring injury at USA’s national camp in Indianapolis last month. Both are expected to be back in time for Division Four. Dodson said their absence was felt.”They’re definitely senior members in the team and we need them in Division Four to be at our utmost best. Yesterday we had the opportunity to close out the game against Canada and we let the ninth-wicket partnership score 50 runs. I think with Timroy and Ali Khan in that position there, they would be perfect guys to come on and close it out, get those two wickets and wrap the game up.”Timroy Allen and Ali Khan are also excellent fielders and I think in this team here where a lot of the guys are just coming into the team and fresh to this level of intensity and this level of cricket that they get lost sometimes in the field. It’s a learning curve and they’ll improve as we play and get better.”While some of USA’s squad will be heading home after Sunday’s final match in the three-match series work commitments before returning to Los Angeles on October 23 for a week of training ahead of Division Four, Dodson is one of six out-of-town players who will remain in Los Angeles to train with coach Pubudu Dassanayake ahead of their next assignment. He hopes the time spent together will make an impact by the time USA’s first match begins against Bermuda on October 29.”We’re just getting started,” Dodson said. “There’s a lot of room for improvement and a lot of room for us to grow. We’re definitely here to put in the work. Everyone here is committed and ready to see ourselves grow and put the work in that’s going to help us not just win Division Four and move forward to Division Three but to Division Two and Division One and do all the things that we want to do.”

Former Test allrounder Andrew McDonald has been confirmed as Victoria’s new head coach, after he announced during the week he was leaving his position in charge of Leicestershire.The vacancy with Victoria opened up after David Saker was named Australia’s new assistant coach in July, and McDonald soon became the leading candidate. He was appointed head coach of the Melbourne Renegades – a position that Saker had also held – earlier this month and Cricket Victoria has now confirmed that McDonald will also take the state reins.The move continues a rapid coaching rise for McDonald, 35, who less than two years ago was still playing in the Sheffield Shield. Although he ended his career with South Australia and also played four Tests during 2009, most of McDonald’s career in Australia was played with Victoria – he appeared in 71 first-class games for them for 3516 runs at 40.88 and 163 wickets at 28.18.Over the past two years, McDonald has been a popular coach of Leicestershire, lifting the performances of the struggling county, and now he will take over a side sitting in a position of strength in Australian cricket. Victoria have won the past two Sheffield Shield titles, first under long-time coach Greg Shipperd in 2014-15, and then under his replacement Saker in 2015-16.”I’m really pleased to be coming home to Victoria to take on the coaching role with the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers,” McDonald said. “The state team is in a really good place on the back of consecutive Shield victories and I’m looking forward to building on that culture of success and delivering results across all formats.”I’m a proud Victorian and have been lucky enough to share some big wins playing cricket for this state. I’m excited about the challenges that are ahead of us and I look forward to working with the coaching staff and the players led by Matthew Wade on the busy schedule ahead.”Tony Dodemaide, the Cricket Victoria CEO, said: “We’re delighted that Andrew has agreed to return to Victoria after his time in charge with Leicestershire. He brings a great enthusiasm and knowledge to the role and knows Victorian cricket well which stands us in good stead ahead of the upcoming Sheffield Shield season and Matador BBQs One Day Cup.”The Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers have enjoyed terrific success in the last two years with our consecutive Shield victories. Andrew – a former Shield winner himself – understands elite performance environments and is looking to build on that success this season.”

BCCI and WICB officials are confident of securing US visas in time for their respective squads to go ahead with the proposed T20 series in Florida next month. A source with knowledge of the negotiations between the two boards, which took place at the Central Broward Regional Park (CBRP) on Thursday, said that the series is “98% on”.The tentative plan, it is understood, is to hold two T20s on August 27 and 28, following the negotiations in Florida that involved BCCI general manager MV Shridar and WICB commercial manager Nelecia Yeates. Discussions are also believed to involve staging a return visit by both sides in 2017.For now, the 2% hold-up on finalising the August series is based on multiple factors, including the visa status of players. However, multiple sources have confirmed that the BCCI has already submitted names, photographs and documents for their intended T20 squad to the US Embassy in Jamaica, where the second Test is due to start on Saturday.There is a sense of urgency to get expedited visas approved for India’s dual Test and T20 players at the US Embassy in Jamaica because there is no US Embassy in St Lucia, the venue of the third Test. All US consular affairs in St Lucia are handled by the US Embassy in Barbados. By waiting to file the visa applications until the team gets to Trinidad for the fourth Test, it would leave just a over a week to finalise other logistical aspects with no guarantee that the players’ visas will be approved.Aside from the visas, the WICB also needs to get approval from the ICC to host matches in the USA, though that is a formality with the ICC eager to facilitate as much cricket as possible within the country. ICC chief operating officer Iain Higgins is currently in Florida for the CPL matches and is expected to rubber stamp approval once an application is submitted.A contract will also need to be arranged with the CBRP and Broward County for stadium rental fees. That may also include paying a fee to accommodate the shifting of an event previously scheduled for August 28 at the stadium. The BCCI is determined to play the matches on a Saturday and Sunday to capitalise on the US expat market, enabling fans to fly into Florida for the weekend.The start times may also shift at the behest of the BCCI. The CPL matches taking place at the CBRP this week include local start times of 7 pm on the two week nights, and 12 pm and 4 pm doubleheaders for the weekend. The BCCI is pushing for the two T20Is to have a 10 am local start in Florida, which is 7.30 pm in India, allowing a prime-time audience and maximising TV revenue.One more piece in the puzzle is the ground capacity. The capacity for the CPL has been capped at 10,000, but the CBRP is capable of bringing in more temporary bleachers to hold as many as 20,000 people. The BCCI is angling for the capacity to be maxed out, confident that they can generate two sellouts and maximise gate revenue.Among the other details to be ironed out are the ticket-pricing policy as well as broadcast rights. Pending the approval of the players’ visas along with the other logistical details, the two proposed matches may not be finalised until sometime next week.

West Indies captain Jason Holder knows his team needs a much stronger batting performance in St Kitts than during their two tri-series matches in Guyana earlier this month. The series has moved on from the sluggish Providence Stadium pitch to the harder surface at Warner Park, which combined with the short boundaries makes it a more attractive ground for batsmen.Australia managed to post 288 for 6 at Warner Park on Saturday, enough for victory over South Africa, and West Indies get their first opportunity at the venue when they take on Australia on Monday. Holder said regardless of the change in conditions, his batting order needed to lift after being skittled for 116 by Australia in Guyana.”We didn’t bat well in the last game in Guyana,” Holder said. “We won the first game probably in the 48th over chasing 180. I think it’s obvious that we need to put some more runs on the board. This pitch here will be a lot better than Guyana in terms of strokeplay.”We saw the game yesterday and it looked like a pretty easy pace and pretty easy going for the batsmen. It’s important for the top four to bat as big as possible, give us a good solid foundation for our middle order to come in and capitalise.”West Indies have won four and lost four from eight ODIs in St Kitts since the ground hosted its first match 10 years ago. Last time they played there Denesh Ramdin slammed 169 off 121 balls and Darren Bravo scored 124 in what became a comfortable win over Bangladesh.”Traditionally playing here in St Kitts it tends to get a little slow,” Holder said. “It’s always been a slow track, but I guess the dimensions of the ground make it easier to hit the ball over the top and score freely. But having said that it could be a bit difficult, especially when the slow bowlers are on in the middle overs, to get the ball off the square.”I think we can use that to our favour. We’ve got two good spinners at the moment and there could be a possibility of playing three, you never know. I think it’s important we capitalise when the ball gets softer, as the Australians and South Africans pointed out, we try to peg back the scoring and keep it very tight.”Sunil Narine has been the most dangerous bowler in the series so far, with eight wickets from West Indies’ two matches, and Sulieman Benn has also proven difficult to get away. Offspinner Ashley Nurse is also in the squad as a third slow-bowling option.