Two-paced wicket caught us by surprise - Nash

West Indies' tour of Sri Lanka got off to a disappointing start when the tourists were bundled out for 176 by seam and spin on the first day of their three-day match against Sri Lanka President's XI at the SSC. Only middle-order batsmen Brendan Nash and Shivnarine Chanderpaul got useful practice out in the middle ahead of next Monday's first Test in Galle.

The pair rescued West Indies from 29 for 3 with a partnership of 81 before spinners Ajantha Mendis and Malinga Bandara wrapped up the lower order. Nash who scored 62 off 107 balls said, "We would have liked to have batted some more overs and got used to the conditions over here. The wicket was quite good although it played a few little tricks. Maybe it was just one of those things where we started the tour a little slowly today.

"Shiv and I batted together for a while and a few of the other guys showed signs of hanging there for a little bit. We were a little disappointed by the way we batted but we were surprised by the wicket being quite easy to bat on. Maybe that took us a little bit by surprise and we didn't adjust as well as we should have."

Describing his maiden half-century in the subcontinent, Nash said, "I was a little scratchy in patches for my first innings in this part of the world. Personally I am pleased with it - the mental and physical side of things.

"I was interested with the pace of the wicket, it was two-paced. Just when you thought you were sort of going quite easy something would happen to keep you on your toes. Although it was a nice wicket to bat on, every now and then it reminded you that something can happen out there."

Nash said that West Indies should take a good look at their batting today and establish how they were going to move on from there. "We got this out of our system and had a bit of a knock in the middle, so we got to know the conditions and what they are going to be like. We can learn from today. We have to move forward and keep going."

Nash expressed surprise in the way the home team approached their batting. "The top four batsmen who came out played real shots. They obviously had a plan to come out quite hard and score runs quickly. We sort of pegged them back towards the end by taking a few wickets.

"It's a three-day match and there is plenty of time. The wicket might break up a little bit more so it would be another test for our batsmen and bowlers to use those conditions," he said.