Braithwaite’ unbeaten 55 give Bajans 1st innings lead

Aug 05, 2011 Sports

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Regional U-19 three-day cricket (5th round)

By Sean Devers
Eighteen-year-old Barbados Captain Kraigg Braithwaite returned to form with a responsible

unbeaten half century to give his team first innings points against Guyana on the opening day of their final round Regional under-19 three-day match at Everest yesterday.
By the close, Barbados were 148-3 replying to Guyana’s paltry 87 all out with Braithwaite, the only Test player to ever participate in a Regional youth tournament since it began in 1968, unbeaten on 55 from 161 balls, 196 minutes with three fours.
Braithwaite and Kyle Mayers, who has struck three fours and two sixes in his undefeated 34, has so far put together 53 for the fourth wicket for the visitors who begin the second day with a lead of 61 runs.
First-class pacer and Guyana Skipper, Ronsford Beaton, struck early in the Barbados reply when he bowled Shane Parris for three to leave the Bajans, one of three teams still with a chance of winning this year’s title, on 7-1.
Braithwaite, who made his debut at this level in 2008, batted solidly without taking too many chances on a slow turner and by Tea was undefeated on 24, while Shai Hope was with him on 17.
After the break, left arm-spinner Anthony Adams bowled Hope for 18 after Barbados had added six to their Tea time score.
A small crowd watched as the left-handed Anthony Alleyne and Braithwaite carried the score to 95 in sweltering heat with attractive batting before Alleyne (31) edged off-spinner Lloydel Lewis to slip.

Mayers joined Braithwaite who began to use his feet to the spinners as his confidence increased and his innings progressed.
The left-handed Mayers dumped Gudakesh Motie for a straight six and smashed leg spinner Amir Khan through wide mid-on for four in the next over.
Braithwaite, the fifth youngest West Indian to play Test cricket, stroked Motie for his third four to reach his fifty to end a disappointing tournament with the bat so far.
The right hander, who turned 18 years last December, joined fellow Barbadians Derek Sealy (17 years, 122 days), Garfield Sobers (17 years, 245 days) and Robin Bynoe (18 years, 31 days) on the list of West Indian teenagers to make their Test debuts.
Trinidadian Jeffrey Stollmeyer (18 years, 90 days) is the only other player to make his West Indies Test debut when younger than Braithwaite who was 18 years 169 days on his Test debut.
With his only ton in regional under-19 cricket (112 in 2008) being scored against Guyana, the slimly built West Indies under-19 Captain is well poised to score another today as Barbados consider the option of declaring to try and win outright to keep their championships hopes alive.
Earlier, Kevon Boodie, pushing forward, was caught at second slip by Neil Browne off pacer Justin Greaves for a duck as Guyana began badly after opting to bat first in glorious sunshine after the entire last round was washed out.
A run later, debutant Linden Austin was bowled by left-arm seamer Jerome Jones before he had scored and Guyana, who dominated this tournament in the 1990s with a record six consecutive titles, were 5-2.
The Bajans struck an important blow when the inform Chanderpaul Hemraj (1) was caught at second slip off Greaves and when Dominique Rikhi (1) bowled playing on by Jones, Guyana were wobbling on the ropes on 7-4.
Vice-Captain Crosse looked determined to battle hard and along with Anthony Adams (15) took the score to 60 when Adams was caught at square-leg as he pulled a short ball from off-spinner Chaim Holder.  His unrelated namesake Ricardo Adams was bowled by Holder before he had scored as the Guyanese, who were dismissed for 79 against T&T in the third round, slumped to 60-6.
Amir Khan (2) was bowled by Holder at 72-7 while two runs later, Crosse, just eight short of his second fifty this year, played a loose cut at off-spinner Braithwaite and was caught at the wicket by Mario Rampersaud, whose father is Guyanese.
At Lunch Guyana were 82-8 but they failed to reach 100 for the second consecutive time in this competition after making 317-9 declared in their opening match against the Leeward Islands.
Beaton (8) was caught and bowled by Greaves who then trapped Motie (0) leg before as the last two wickets tumbled for no run as Guyana were all out 28 minutes after Lunch from just 34.5 overs.
Barbados omitted left-arm spinner Chad Williams, left-arm Neil Persaud and leg-spinner Amir Thomas with 16-year-old batsman Jonathan Drakes making his debut, while Guyana left out batsman Joemal LaFleur, opener Kandasammy Surujnarine and pacer Clinton Pestano.
Play on the second day is scheduled to commence at 10:00hrs.

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