Rain helps Barbados to title as Guyana, T&T play to a draw

Apr 15, 2014 Sports

By Sean Devers
Guyana’s final game in the Regional four-day cricket competition against Trinidad & Tobago ended in a draw as rain had the final say yesterday at Providence with the Guyanese, set 225 to win, on 80-3, still 145 short of their target.
When play began on the final day 65 minutes late due to overnight and early morning showers, Guyana resumed on 17-1 after losing Trevon Griffith (13) just before the close on the penultimate day.

Man-of-the-Match Devendra Bishoo plays forward to Amit Jaggernauth as Skipper Leon Johnson looks on at the non-striker’s end.

They slipped to 43-3 before Man-of-the-Match Devendra Bishoo (25*) and Skipper Leon Johnson (30*) revived the position with their unfinished 37-run partnership after rain had stopped play, 22 minutes after Lunch with the score on 70-3.
After a lengthy delay play resumed at 16:52 hrs and Guyana added 10 runs in 2.4 overs before the Captains agreed to call off the match at 17:00hrs.
Scores: T&T (294 & 212), Guy (282 & 80-3)
The draw ensured defending champions Barbados retained the President’s Trophy in the League tournament with 82 points since T&T had to beat Guyana to move to 89 points if they wanted to lift their sixth Regional title and first in eight years.
Their defeat in Barbados and their showing here took some of the gloss off of the four wins at home and raised questions about the mental toughness of T&T on the road. It also provided Guyana, who remained at bottom of the points, with a draw to climax what has been one the worst seasons for the South Americas.
The second shower came just after the interval and robbed Guyana of a great opportunity to post their only win of the competition, especially since the 26-year-old Johnson, their most complete batsman, was at the crease and night watchman Bishoo looked to have fully regained his confidence.
Earlier, Tagnarine Chanderpaul (7) got a ball from Linden-born Marlon Richards that jagged back into the left-hander and trapped him lbw to leave the score on 33-2 in overcast conditions.
A handful of spectators then watched in bemusement as 17-year-old debutant Shemron Hetymer threw his wicket away for the second time in the game to give Richards (2-21) his second wicket and leave Guyana on 43-3.
The left-handed West Indies under-19 player got off the mark with a disdainful pull as Richards pounded one in on the unresponsive track before an irresponsible drive to Emrit at deep mid-off caused his demise in the same over, as he needlessly tried to clear the fielder instead of playing the ball along the ground.

The ground staff had a busy day at Providence yesterday.

Johnson, who followed up a classy 110 in the last match in Antigua with an accomplished 78 in the first innings, joined the technically correct Bishoo to take the score to 64-3 by Lunch and Guyana holding the advantage with victory 161 runs away and two sessions left in the match.
Guyana Captain Johnson said he was disappointed that the rain spoiled the contest with his team with a good chance of achieving victory for pride and the local fans.
T&T Coach Kelvin Williams said the adverse weather was a huge disappointment for his team since at the start of the day the touring side was looking to force an outright win to get ahead of Barbados on the points table.
The Trinis ended the round-robin stage of the competition with 80 points while Guyana got eight points from the game to move to 28.
Williams felt his batsmen missed out on what turned out to be crucial batting points in the first innings here which would have taken them to one more that the Bajans.
“Our plan was to try and get five batting points in the first innings and bat once in the match. We missed an extra batting point here by six runs and missed out on few more during the course of the tournament. So yes, I am disappointed,” Williams added.
Jamaica will clash with home team Barbados, while T&T will host the Windward Islands from Saturday in the semi-final with the winners advancing to the final from April 25-28 where they will play for Headley/Weeks trophy.

SCOREBOARD
T&T 294 and 212
Guyana 282 and 2nd innings (ON 17-1)
T. Griffith lbw b Jaggernauth 13
T. Chanderpaul lbw b Richards 7
D. Bishoo not out
S Hetmyer c Emrit b Richards 04
L Johnson not out
Extras: (lb-1) 1
Total: (for three wickets; 37.1 overs) 70
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-33, 3-43
Bowling: Gabriel 6-1-12-0 Emrit 5-3-8-0
Jaggernauth 14-4-18-1 Mohammed 6-2-9-0
Richards 7-1-21-2, Khan 2-1-11-0