KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) — Kieran Powell and Kraigg Brathwaite were stopped in their tracks, when heavy afternoon rain condemned a day that promised much for West Indies-A to very little in the opening four-day “Test” against Pakistan-A yesterday.

Powell was not out on 33, and fellow opener Brathwaite was not out on 26, as West Indies-A, sent in to bat, reached 63 without loss in their first innings at the lunch interval before the rain washed away the remainder of the opening day at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex.

Umpires Nigel Duguid and Peter Nero delivered the cease-and-desist order about an hour before the scheduled close.

The two young openers had batted through the morning period with aplomb to give Windies-A a solid platform.

Left-hander Powell batted with some enterprise to stroke three boundaries from 100 balls, and Brathwaite with typical calm assurance to gather two fours from 90 balls.

Rain had hampered the preparations of both side on the eve of the match, but a day that started in generally sunny conditions soon turned bleak.

In the brief action, Yasir Arafat bowled impressively to hold the flattering figures of 6-4-6-0.

West Indies-A omitted Rajindra Chandrika and Brandon Bess from their squad of 13, as six players were brought in to beef up the line-up for the fixture.

West Indies-A won the preceding two-match Twenty20 series 1-0, with the first match ending in a tie, the same result as the first match of a three-match One-Day series, which they lost 0-2 to the Pakistanis.