KINGSTOWN, May 16: West Indies survived a major scare before beating Bangladesh by one wicket in the first One-day International here on Saturday. The hosts, chasing a modest 145 for victory, collapsed from 81 for two to 133 for nine before Ian Bradshaw eased the winning single off Mohammad Rafique in the 47th over.

West Indies had appeared to be cruising as opener Ricardo Powell hit 52, but two run outs and some inspired bowling by Manjural Islam took Bangladesh to the brink of a famous victory.

Powell hit half-dozen boundaries in the top score of 52 from 64 balls, but he too, was guilty of the thoughtless, careless batting that almost sunk West Indies.

Left-arm spin bowler Manjural Islam Rana again showed that he could be Bangladesh's main weapon on this trip with three wickets for 21 runs from 10 overs and Khaled Mahmud took two for 15 from 10 overs.

Fast bowler Tino Best captured four wickets for 35 runs from 10 overs on his ODI debut for West Indies, as Bangladesh were restricted 144 for eight from their allotment of 50 overs.

Mohammed Rafique hit the only six of the innings in the top score of 32 not out from 59 balls and Khaled Mashud scored 30 not out from 75 balls in a stand of 62, unbroken, for the ninth wicket that brought some respectability to the Bangladesh innings.

West Indies appeared to be coasting slowly, but surely to victory when they reached 81 for two. The wickets of Chanderpaul, lbw to Manjural's third delivery for 15 in the 26th over, and Powell, bowled playing an ill-advised back-foot drive off Mahmud in the 29th, opened the floodgates.

Panic almost immobilised West Indies, particularly when Manjural, Mahmud and Rafique cleverly wheeled away in the middle of the innings. Stand-in West Indian captain Ramnaresh Sarwan tried to hit his side out of danger and was caught inside the long-on boundary for 22 in the 39th over.

Dwayne Smith's carelessness saw him stumped off Manjural, and Ridley Jacobs and Dwayne Bravo paid for their thoughtlessness when they were both run out, as West Indies slumped from 119 for five to 126 for eight.

Their position became even more perilous when Best was lbw to Manjural in the 44th over with 12 needed, but the easygoing Bradshaw kept a level head and his six in the 45th over off Alok Kapali effectively turned the game West Indies' way.

After Bangladesh were sent in to bat, Best struck with the third and fourth balls of the match to remove opening batsman Shahriar Hossain and skipper Habibul Bashar and continued to bowl mean and purposeful.

In his second spell, the fast bowler continued to pepper the Bangladesh batsman in the process removing Mushfiqur Rahman and Mahmud. In between Best's show of force, Edwards and Bradshaw, later named Man-of-the-Match, snared four wickets equally between them. But Mashud and Rafique rallied Bangladesh to a respectable total, once the heat cooled.

Play was delayed by 15 minutes because overnight rain left a few damps spots on the pitch and around the outfield. The allotment of overs to the two teams was not reduced though.

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