Regional Four-Day tournament...Jamaica end opening day in driver’s seat against Guyana

Regional Four-Day tournament…Jamaica end opening day in driver’s seat against Guyana

Mar 01, 2014 Sports

By Sean Devers in Jamaica
In Association with Sterling Products Ltd,
Auto Fashion & Payless Variety Store
On Jamaica Day where Jamaicans are urged to wear their national colours, host Jamaica ended the opening day of their Regional four-day cricket fixture against Guyana yesterday at Sabina Park in the driver’s seat, needing 28 runs for first innings honours with nine wickets in hand.
Guyana were bowled out for 117 and the home team were well placed on 89-1 by the close with John Campbell on 32 and Nkrumah Bonner on nine.

Campbell fends off one from Keon Joseph.

Guyana, without Shiv Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan because of an injured finger and back respectively, reached 51-4 from 21 overs by lunch with Sewnarine Chattergoon, Vishaul Singh (18), Narsingh Deonarine (0), Assad Fudadin (21) all going cheaply.
Asked to bat on a two-paced track which dried out into a good pitch, the Guyanese aided their own demise with a series of impetuous shots with Chattergoon edging Jerome Taylor to the Keeper before Guyana had scored.
And while Fudadin battled away on a track with early moisture for 99 minutes and 52 balls for his resolute 21, nobody offered him assistance before he was bowled by Andre Russell just before the interval to leave the South Americans on 46-4.
This was after Vishaul Singh wasted a good start and was caught off Russell at 35-2. Deonarine, who played in the last Test series in New Zealand, made little of his latest chance to impress and was quickly caught behind by Carlton Baugh off Russell for a duck as the Guyanese lost for wickets in the first session in sweltering heat.
At the interval, Chris Barnwell was on five and Wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble on three, but the two did not really prolong their partnership as off-spinner Jamie Merchant broke the affiliation at 80-5 when Bramble was removed for 16. Barnwell edged a ball from Merchant, who struggled to turn the ball on a surfaced which Chanderpaul described as a road, after taking 136 minutes and 69 balls for his confident 34, at 108-6.
The 24-year-old Merchant in only his second First-Class outing, then bowled Veerasammy Permaul with one that did not turn before he had scored as Guyana, who lost to Jamaica last year by 212 runs at Providence, slumped to 108-7.
Devendra Bishoo was going well on 11 before he gifted his wicket to Merchant with a tame catch to short mid-wicket, one run later before Amir Khan, in his second match at this level was run out for five. Russell then cleaned up the tail by bowling Keon Joseph for a duck to skittle out Guyana 17 minutes after Tea which was taken at 108-8.
Merchant ended with 4-29, while Russell finished with 4-33 for the home team, hunting their 19th win in 54 matches against Guyana at this level.
By the close 21 year-old left-hander John Campbell, who played some delightful shots in his unbeaten knock and Horace Miller added 76 for the first wicket to give Jamaica a firm foundation.
Campbell and Miller, who was dropped on 28 off Barnwell by Bramble, who dived in front of first slip with the score on 38 without loss, flourished against the new ball pair of Joseph and Ronsford Beaton.
Permaul made the break-through when he induced Miller to edge a defensive push to Bramble after batting for 96 minutes and 71 balls. He stroked eight boundaries in his 46.
Bonner joined Campbell, who delighted the small crowd with a fabulous array of scintillating stroke-play as Bishoo bowled a bit too flat on a pitch getting better and better for batting.
Khan was introduced and bowled in tandem with Deonarine in the closing overs but Jamaica ended the day ‘large and in charge in their own backyard’.
Guyana Coach Esaun Crandon disclosed that the absence of their two leading batsmen (Chanderpaul and Sarwan) put a huge spoke in Guyana’s wheel.
”We definitely missed our two most experienced players and the plan was to bat as long as possible and at the same score some runs also. We did not apply ourselves after the pitch got better for batting in the afternoon,” Crandon said.
“We had too many soft dismissals and now our bowlers have got to bring us back into the game. Sarwan is expected to have an X-Ray on his back tomorrow (today) while Shiv should have surgery done to his thumb,” the former Guyana fast bowler stated.