Simmons’ maiden century sets up West Indies win

Reuters: Lendl Simmons struck his maiden one-day century for West Indies who beat Bangladesh by 40 runs on Thursday to take 1-0 lead in their three-match series.

Simmons, playing in his 30th ODI, hit 122 as the tourists piled up a challenging 298 for four. The target proved too much for Bangladesh who were restricted to 258 for seven.

The 26-year-old Simmons received good support from Marlon Samuels, who made 71 as the pair shared a 150-run stand.

Simmons and opening partner Adrian Barath added 67 runs before a hamstring injury forced Barath to retire hurt for 21, making him the first victim of a new ICC rule which bans a runner for an injured batsman.

Simmons and Samuels made Bangladesh wait until the 42nd over before they had their first breakthroughs when paceman Rubel Hossain dismissed both in the space of four balls.

Bangladesh never threatened to chase down their imposing target despite makeshift opener Naeem Islam scoring 52 and former skipper Shakib Al Hasan delivering some late blows to hit 67 not out.

Samuels capped a fine all-round performance with two wickets for West Indies, who were without regular captain Darren Sammy due to a stomach upset.

Sammy is expected to return to the side on Saturday for the second ODI at the same venue.