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A long wait ends

Sports Reporter
The first ODI against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium was a special occasion for West Indies opener Lendl Simmons who notched up his maiden ODI century, ending a nearly five-year wait. The crucial partnerships he strung together at the top of the innings — first with fellow opener Adrian Barath who retired hurt after pulling a hamstring with the score on 67, and then a 150-run stand with number three batsman Marlon Samuels — were the main factors behind Bangladesh being all but shut out of the match at the halfway stage.
“It was a special knock today," said a satisfied though weary Simmons at the post-match press conference.
“I've been getting starts against Pakistan and India before and I couldn't convert them into hundreds. Today I scored my first ODI hundred which I would like to dedicate to my mum and daughter," said the right-hander.
He had to work hard for his 124-ball 122 as the West Indies got off to a sedate start, with only eleven coming from the first five overs. Thereafter, Simmons got used to the pace of the wicket and the sapping heat and humidity, mixing aggression and common sense perfectly to produce a fine innings.
“I was trying to get the pace of the wicket as fast as possible. We didn't get the start we wanted in the first five overs but at the end of the first Powerplay, we got to our target. Then we just went on with the momentum,” said Simmons.
The Trinidad and Tobago player felt that playing in the Champions League in India before coming here had helped him acclimatise to subcontinental conditions.
“The pitch was nice, the ball came on to the bat. Before coming to Bangladesh I was in India playing the Champions League. The bowlers did a good job but we made a score that was quite defendable," Simmons said.
Simmons also felt that he was the senior partner in his opening association with Barath, and hoped that they were beginning to form a solid partnership. "I am now stepping into being a senior player in the team. I was batting with Adrian Barath, he's a junior guy from T&T and we played a lot of cricket back home and we have a good understanding. I hope we can blossom as an opening pair. If we can give good starts in the rest of the series, we can get into match-winningpositions.”
Samuels was the other batting star in West Indies' innings, hitting a78-ball71to continue his red-hot form, and Simmons
gave credit to the man who he said was an inspiration. "Marlon has some form at the current time and he is showing his abilities as a good batsman. He dominated the Twenty20 and today he showed his class again.
“He's an inspiration. All the guys see that he has form. Our partnership was a good one and it got us to a good score," Simmons added.