Guyana go down to T&T by nine wickets on D/L system

Aug 02, 2008 Sports

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‘Worst batting I have seen in six years as Manager’

– Johnson

By Sean Devers in Barbados
In association with Digicel, TCL,
Pepsi, Smalta, Demerara Power
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On a wet and windy Emancipation Day holiday here yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago never gave Guyana any freedom to score as they advanced to today’s TCL Group regional one-day under-19 cricket final with a nine-wicket victory on the Duckworth/Lewis system at the Queens Park ground.

Without a title at this level since its introduction in 1998, Guyana catapulted from 55-3 off 12 overs after the first rain interruption to be dismissed for 88 in a game reduced to a 24-over per side encounter as the bowlers never took the shackles off the Guyanese batsmen.

Fast bowler Hakeem Mitchell (3-34) and fellow pacer Akeil Cooper (3-8) combined to do the bulk of the damage against Guyanese batsmen who with the exception of Skipper Eugene LaFleur, exhibited gross uncertainty regarding a game plan after play resumed after a near three-hour delay.

Trinidad and Tobago, set a revised target of 87 off 24 overs reached 87-1 to win with 22 balls remaining as an invaluable unfinished 74-run second wicket partnership from Nicholas Alexis (37*) and Evin Lewis (32*) led the way for the team from Carnival country.

The result was not a true indication of the margin of victory since the T&T batsmen had to fight ‘tooth and nail’ as the Guyana spinners battled gallantly to try and compensate for what Manager Alvin Johnson described as the worst batting performance he had ever seen from a Guyana team in his six years as Manager at this level.

Guyana lost their last seven wickets for 33 runs in just over nine overs in one of the most sensational batting collapses in the history of this competition and the rapid demise of the Guyanese batsmen yesterday exposed an alarming lack of mental fortitude among our teenage cricketers.

Trinidad and Tobago, hunting their fourth title at this level and first since they won the double in St Vincent in 2005, will meet host Barbados in the final after yesterday’s other game; between defending champions Jamaica and the Windward Islands, was washed out with the Islanders on 105-3 off 24 overs.

In yesterday’s truncated encounter, Guyana elected to bat on a good batting strip and lost Trevon Griffith (8) in the day’s second over with the score on 10 when the left-hander, after lofting Mitchell over mid-on for four, drove the pacer straight to cover.

Seon Hetmyer and Fredricks, who was dropped at slip by Skipper Adrian Barath off Sheldon Dogan on nine at 22-1, carried the score to 27on the heavy outfield.

The pair scampered a number of sharp singles but although Fredricks tried to take the attack to the bowlers, the new ball pair bowled a ‘tight’ line to restrict the scoring inside power-play overs.

Fredricks (13 from 24 balls) freed himself with a thumping cover boundary off Mitchell but was bowled next ball as he missed a big drive.

Jeetendra Sookdeo, back in the side after injury, joined Hetmyer in the sixth over in overcast conditions and the impressive Mitchell soon had Hetmyer (12) caught at slip to leave the score on 43-3 as Trinidad and Tobago maintained the pressure.

Jonathan Foo, the team’s most pugnacious batsman, joined Sookdeo and they carried the score to 49-3 from 11.3 overs before rain stopped play at 10:25hrs.

After a delay of 33 minutes play resumed in murky conditions and the game was reduced to a 48 per side match.

Foo, on the back of a belligerent 87 in his last match, smashed Mitchell for a thunderous boundary over extra cover but after just three balls were delivered another sharp shower sent the players off the Park for a second time at 11:00hrs.

When play eventually re-commenced at 14:50hrs under cloudy skies with the game further reduced to a 24-over per side battle, Foo (7) impetuously lofted the second ball he faced high to long-on, off pacer Akeil Cooper, who comprehensively bowled Dilon Heyliger for a first ball duck.

LaFleur who survived a confident appeal off the hat-trick ball watched in horror as Sookdeo recklessly skied Ramoutar to mid-off in the next over and Anthony Bramble (2) was caught behind off Cooper as Guyana slumped to 68-7 in 15 overs.

Batting with a runner, LaFleur, the only Guyanese who appeared to have his brain with him at the crease after the resumption yesterday, worked the ball around intelligently before Royston Alkins and his runner Foo, conspired to run him out for eight with senseless cricket as Guyana slumped to 77-8.

Alkins who persisted with trying to cut and steer the spinners although he missed almost every such shot, was then stumped off Sachin Boodram at 83-9 while the Guyanese insanity continued when Herman Latcha (1) pushed a ball straight to mid-off, charged down on Kyron Fraser for an impossible single and was run out by the length of the pitch as the innings folded with nine balls remaining.

Barath, a First-Class right-hander who scored 92 against Guyana in last year’s one-day competition and 96 in his last innings against Guyana in this year’s three-day competition, cut Fraser for a spanking boundary and then upper-cut him for a six in successive overs to bring the small but vociferous crowd, which included mostly Guyanese, to life.

The lanky Fraser however had the last laugh when Barath (12) cut a ball which bounced on him to gully to leave the score on 13-1.

Latcha was superb and his first two-over spell cost five runs including a four which went right through Alkins at cover while the part-time off-spin of Sookdeo (5-1-15-0) and Fredricks (4-0-12-0) maintained the pressure with on-target bowling as the batsmen struggled to get the ball away after Barath’s demise.

Evin Lewis pulled Sookdeo for a six as the 50 was posted in the 15th over and along with Nicholas Alexis took their team to victory as they kept their nerves with committed batting even as the Guyanese fiercely defended their paltry total in fading light.

Lewis, who hit a four and two sixes from 46 balls, lofted Latcha (4-0-22-0) for a crucial six in his second spell while the 16-year-old Alexis counted three boundaries in his 65-ball innings and played with wonderful maturity.

Pacer Keon Joseph was rested after complaining of pain in his upper right leg from an old injury sustained during last year’s regional under-15 tournament while Leon Scott (who is still not 100% recovered from a back strain) and left-arm spinner Totaram Bishun who has struggled with the ball this year, were left-out of the starting eleven.

Johnson commended his bowlers for their effort after the loss and said that it was always going to be difficult defending such a small total.

“We were about 25 runs short but the guys really tried hard in the field and LaFleur continued to show great leadership ability.

You don’t expect to win when you lost seven wickets in nine overs and this has to be the worst batting I have seen at this level in my six years as Manager,” Johnson said.

“I don’t know what really happened today (yesterday) and it shows that despite how much talent you might have if you can’t use your brain you will more often than not fail.

We were fairly well placed on 55-3 off 12 overs but maybe the guys though the match was already over and completely lost the plot after the long break,” Johnson opined.

He feels that yesterday’s batting performance shows that most of our young players seem to lack mental strength and panic under pressure.

“I really don’t know. It might be that the guys are not playing enough cricket or are not being taught to handle tough situations but something seems to be wrong with the way they think under pressure and this is something we (officials) have to work on if we want to produce players who will be successful at the highest level,” Johnson, a Vice-President on the Guyana Cricket Board disclosed.

“La Fleur show he has a level head but it seems as if the players totally shot down after the rain break today (yesterday) although we had a 10-minute meeting just before the resumption to remind them that 12 overs were a lot of overs and that Foo, who can score quickly, should try to bat right through the innings.

I am disappointed that Foo, as someone who has been here (regional youth level) for a long time is still not able to step up mentally.

It is time we start calling a spade a spade and realize that talent without brains is of little use,” Johnson said.

“We have a talented, disciplined bunch of players here but inconsistent batting throughout the competition has let us down and today (yesterday) was the worst,” Johnson concluded.

The Guyana players, who received tremendous support from the Barbados based Guyanese fans yesterday, are expected to watch today’s final before returning home tomorrow evening.

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