Gajanand Singh stakes claim for National call-up with unbeaten 79

Jan 08, 2010 Sports

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Christian, Johnson also hit 2nd day fifties

By Sean Devers
Batsmen were again dominant on a docile Bourda track on the second day of Guyana’s three-day practice match against a Rest team yesterday as they whip themselves into to shape ahead of their historic Day/Night Regional 4-day game against Trinidad and Tobago in Antigua from January 15.
Resuming from an overnight position of 302-4, the Guyana side declared just before tea at 444-8 and by the close the Rest team had responded with 179-3 with the left-handed pair of Gajanand Singh (79*) and Leon Johnson (52*) sharing an unfinished 134-run 4th wicket stand.
Assad Fudadin carried his overnight 111 to 152 before he ‘retired out’ at lunch to give his teammates an opportunity to bat while Wicket Keeper Derwin Christian smashed an explosive 60-ball and 40-minute 84 before he seemed unlucky to be adjudged caught and bowled by former West Indies Under-19 skipper Steven Jacobs after adding 123 with Fudadin for the 6th wicket.
Although Chris Barnwell was trapped leg before by Esuan Crandon for a first ball duck when the Rest Team began their reply, the bowlers on both sides again toiled with little success in mostly sunny conditions.
While Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan was absent yesterday monitoring a back injury, the form of Singh and especially Johnson, both former West Indies Under-19 players, was encouraging in the event that Sarwan is forced to join fellow Test player Shivnarine Chanderpaul on the injured list and miss Guyana’s opening game next week.

Test player Narsingh Deonarine added just a single to his first day 61 before he was removed by pacer Trevon Garraway, five minutes into the day’s play with the score on 307-5.
Christian, who attacked the bowling with an array of scintillating shots and striking 8 fours and 6 sixes, dominated the partnership with the compact Fudadin before he drove a ball from Jacobs which seemed to touch the ground before the off-spinner claimed the catch and was given caught and bowled when 16 short of his century.
The 26-year-old Christian looked in total control against an innocuous bowling attack on a sluggish outfield and his brutal innings is good news for the Guyanese after a poor run of form following his maiden first-class ton last year which resulted in him losing his place in both the Guyana 4-day and One-Day teams to Delbert Hicks.
If both Sarwan and Chanderpaul are absent in Antigua, Christian, who averages 17.55 from 28 First-Class matches with a ton and 2 fifties, will be needed to contribute with the bat for the South Americans who finished last in the 7-team tournament in 2009.
Fudadin stroked 19 fours and 3 sixes in his commanding 152 from 263 balls and 434 minutes and with rain delaying the resumption after lunch by 30 minutes with Guyana on 431-6, Fudadin was asked to ‘give up’ his innings.
Esuan Crandon (2) and Veerasammy Permaul (1) were quickly removed after the interval before the declaration was made at 14:10hrs with Davindra Bishoo (5*) and new cap Trevor Benn (5*) at the crease with the new ball due.
Barnwell, who did not bowl yesterday, finished with 3-58 for the Rest team before his first-ball dismissal and that of former West Indies Under-19 batsman Rajendra Chandrika (16); also by Crandon, left the Rest side on 35-2.
By Tea the Rest team had galloped to 63-2 with Singh on 22 and Johnson yet to score. The genuinely quick but wayward Brandon Bess again struggling for control – conceding 37 runs from his 4 overs with the new ball.
After Tea, Bess, who had 1-54 from 7 overs, induced Krishna Arjune (19) to hook a bouncer to long-leg at 45-3 before Singh and the Johnson (both 22-year-olds) joined forces to entertain the small but vocal crowd with attractive batting.
Singh, on the stand-by list of players after losing his National place with scores of 28 & 0 against Barbados last April in the last of his 5 First Class matches, scored freely, especially square of the wicket.
Johnson, not even picked in the 21-man training squad; losing his Guyana spot following scores of 3 & 8 against host Jamaica last year, slowly returned to form and although he was struck on his helmet hooking at Bess and suffered some hamstring discomfort towards the end of his innings, the left-hander, with 3 ODIs and an average of 26.50 from 20 First Class games looked more and more ominous as his innings gathered momentum. Straight sixes off Deonarine and Bishoo from opposite ends, when he neatly used his feet to the spinners, reminded fans of his enormous natural talent.
Singh, dropped on 30 off Crandon and on 50 off Deonarine, has so far hit 11 fours from 93 balls while Johnson’s chanceless innings was decorated with 6 fours and 2 sixes and spanned 99 balls.
While Bess continues to struggle with his direction and length, Benn, an immigration officer in the Guyana Police Force and one of the fittest cricketers in Guyana, had 0-19 from 6 tidy overs while Crandon finished with 2-35 from 8 overs before the spinners failed to make an impression. Today is the final day and play is scheduled to commence at 10:00hrs.

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