Sarwan (79*), Fudadin (66*) give Guyana 1st day honours

Sarwan (79), Fudadin (66) give Guyana 1st day honours

Feb 27, 2010 Sports

Guyanese reach 238-3 against Windwards

Ramnaresh Sarwan

By Sean Devers in Grenada In association with Lifetime Reality & Juliet’s Book Library &
Dating Service

Ramnaresh Sarwan returned to regional cricket with a fluent unbeaten 79 and added 132 runs in an unfinished 5th wicket partnership with Assad Fudadin who made 66 not out as Guyana ended the opening day of their final round Regional 4-Day first class cricket match in a strong position against the Windwards at the Grenada National Stadium here yesterday.
The 29-year-old Sarwan showed very little ‘ring rust’ in his first match for the year with an array of beautiful shots and struck 11 fours as he warmed up for what should be an automatic selection for the ODI series against Zimbabwe which starts in Guyana on Thursday as Guyana reached 238-3 by the close.
The elegant Sarwan, with 83 Tests under his belt, begins his innings today 21 runs away from his 31st First Class ton while the 24-year-old Fudadin, in his 32nd First-Class match, has reached the boundary 8 fours so far and finished the day 34 short of his maiden century at this level as the Guyanese built a good early platform to end a poor 2010 season with back-to-back victories.
Batting first on a flat track in scorching heat and a large and fast outfield after the Windwards won the toss; Guyana lost out of form Test left-hander Sewnarine Chattergoon and his young opening partner Rajendra Chandrika to easy catches and by lunch had reached 77-2 with Gajanand Singh and Assad Fudadin at the crease.
In an Island experiencing drought and with the two bottom-of-the-table teams battling in one of 2 matches being played in Grenada, only a handful of spectators turned up on a working day to watch the Guyanese bat with most of the interest being directed to the championship deciding contest in rural Grenada between defending Champions Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
Guyana, who on Monday in Trinidad won their first match at this level since March 2008, again failed to get a solid foundation from their openers against a team occupying the cellar position in the competition coming into the final round.

Assad Fudadin during his knock

The Guyanese, with the inclusion of Sarwan who replaced Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the side, left out pacer Brendon Bess and Zaheer Mohamed from their starting XI and quickly lost Chattergoon (29) and Chandrika (24) as Dominican off-spinner Shane Shillingford struck twice in the first session for the home team.
After the interval, Singh became the 3rd Guyanese to fail to build on a good start and was removed by Shillingford for 22 to bring Sarwan to the wicket to join Fudadin.
Sarwan, who missed the Australia ODI series and Guyana’s first five matches due to a back injury, looked very confident and along with Fudadin, who batted sensible, took the South Americans to 140-3 by Tea.
By the break, Sarwan, who outscored Fudadin with an array of attractive shots, was unbeaten on 28 while the left-hander from Rose Hall Town looked set for a big score on a disciplined unbeaten 22.
Sarwan soon reached 63rd First-Class fifty while Fudadin reached his 8th half-century at this level from 31 games.
Sarwan picked up the tempo with three audacious boundaries while Fudadin played the supporting role but was not afraid to also dispatch the bad balls.
The pair batted solidly until the close of play as Shillingford finished the opening day with 3-71.
Guyana brought in Sarwan for Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Royston Crandon for Zaheer Mohamed and provided a debut game for West Indies under-19 pacer Keon Joseph at the expense of the fast but wayward Bess.
The Windwards also made three changes to their side, replacing Andre Fletcher, Deighton Butler and Kenroy Peters with Tyrone Theophile, Lyndon James and Delorn Johnson.
Meanwhile in other scores: T&T vs Jamaica – Jamaica 348/7 (Richardson 15* O. Brown 0* the not out batsmen) Earlier, Parchment 106, Hyatt 106, Baugh 23, H. Miller 65led the Jamaicans. Wkts: Khan 5, Gabriel 1, Jaggernauth 1.
Combined Campuses vs Leewards – Leewards 154/7 (tea) Hamilton 59* Baker 11*;
Kantasingh 4 Wickets. (CCC won the Toss and elected to Field)

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