Wells' dig at pitch

England A 203-8

Bangladesh XI 145-8

England A win by 58 runs

Alan Wells, the England A captain, condemned the pitch where England A romped to victory in the opening one-day international against a Bangladesh XI in Dhaka yesterday.

Wells claimed it was unfit to stage the first official match between the two countries, which was played before a 10,000 crowd in the National Stadium.

Wells, whose 96-run partnership with the man-of-the-match, Jason Gallian, steered England to their match-winning total of 203 for 8 from 50 overs, said: "The pitch was a disgrace. It cracked, it crumbled and it looked like plasticine.''

Gallian, who hit 58 from 76 balls, passed 50 for the fifth time on this tour.

(England A won toss)

ENGLAND A

N V Knight c & b Anisur Rahman 0

M P Vaughan b Saiful Islam 5

J E R Gallian c Masud Khaled b Minhazul 58

*A P Wells c Aminul Islam b Naimur 47

D L Hemp run out 3

P N Weekes not out 36

D G Cork c & b Minhazul Abedin 6

P A Nixon lbw b Anisur Rahman 6

R L Johnson run out 22

Extras (b5 lb5 w8 nb2) 20

Total (for 8, 50 overs) 203

Fall: 1-1 2-19 3-115 4-127 5-131 6-144 7-157 8-203.

Did not bat: I D K Salisbury, M M Patel.

Bowling: Anisur Rahman 9-0-28-2; Saiful Islam 9-1-28- 1; Athar Ali 10-2-29-0; Enamul Hoque 3-0-15-0; Mohammad Rafiq 3-0-26-0; Minhazul Abedin 10-0-43-2; Naimur Rahman 6-0-24-1.

BANGLADESH XI

Jahangir Alam c Nixon b Johnson 1

Athar Ali b Johnson 4

Aminul Islam b Cork 1

Naimur Rahman c Knight b Patel 10

Minhazul Abedin b Cork 34

*Akram Khan run out 5

Enamul Hoque c Nixon b Patel 11

Mohammad Rafiq b Weekes 30

Masud Khaled not out 24

Saiful Islam not out 2

Extras (lb7 w15 nb1) 23

Total (for 8, 50 overs) 145

Fall: 1-11 2-12 3-15 4-34 5-53 6-81 7-90 8-126.

Did not bat: Anisur Rahman.

Bowling: Johnson 10-1-27-2; Cork 8-1-11-2; Gallian 3-0-9-0; Patel 8-1- 28-2; Weekes 10-2-30-1; Salisbury 10-3-28-0; Wells 1-0--5-0.