Dowlin steers Windies A home

West Indies A 114 for 5 (Dowlin 49*, Smith 31) beat Zimbabwe 113 for 8 (Taylor 37, Shillingford 3-14) by five wickets
Scorecard

West Indies A were indebted to an unbeaten innings from their captain Travis Dowlin as they overhauled a small target with two deliveries in hand against Zimbabwe at the Queen's Park Stadium. Dowlin, who was deemed surplus to West Indies' services against the visitors last month, hit an assured 49 as West Indies reached a target of 114.

The win had been set up by the hosts' bowlers, who kept Zimbabwe to 113 for 8 after they opted to bat. Only Brendon Taylor, with 7 from 39 balls with a four and a six, put up a fight against a tidy attack led by the offspinner Shane Shillingford. Shillingford was the best of the lot with 3 for 14 while fast bowler Jason Holder claimed 2 for 24. Zimbabwe began poorly, losing the openers Hamilton Masakadza and Chamu Chibhabha inside five overs. Shillingford's dismissal of Tatenda Taibu left Zimbabwe 38 for 3 in the seventh over and they struggled to recover.

In reply, Justin Guillen made just 1 before he chipped a catch back to Ray Price, but Dowlin and Devon Smith put together a handy 56 from 42 balls. Smith took the aggressor's role, hitting three fours and two sixes in his 27-ball 31, but his wicket sparked a brief collapse. After he drove Greg Lamb to Timycen Maruma at cover in the ninth over, Kirk Edwards and Assad Fudadin also fell quickly. Dowlin, however, found some help from Shane Dowrich (14) and Imran Khan as he guided West Indies home.

The loss was Zimbabwe's second after they went down by six wickets in the opening four-day first class match earlier this week. The next fixture is another Twenty20 at Progress Park on Saturday.