NAGICO Super50 cricket: CCC teach Jaguars a lesson with 1-wkt win

Jan 20, 2015 Sports

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Guyana still advance to Thursday’s semi-final

By Sean Devers in Trinidad
In Association with Carib Beer, GT&T
Lifetime Reality & Cascadia Hotel

The Guyana Jaguars advanced to the first semi-final on Thursday although they somehow managed the snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, suffering a sensational one wicket loss to the Combined, Colleges and Campuses (CCC) Maroons in their final preliminary round match in the NAGICO Super50 cricket tournament at the Queens Park Oval under lights.
Set 172 to win CCC seem out of the contest until Skipper Chris Barnwell made a costly blunder in handing the ball for the last over to left-arm Bajan pacer Raymond Reifer, whose only over in competition was bowled last night and cost 10 including two wides, instead of Paul Wintz whose figures read 7-0-26-2.
Eleven runs were needed off Reifer’s over and three wides and two boundaries by Chris Powell, including the last one off the final ball with three required, sealed the issue with the last pair at the crease as Powell smashed Reifer back past his ankles like a shot from a gun to for a pulsating last ball win much to the dismay of few Jaguars fans in the mostly empty stands.
Chris Powell and his unrelated namesake Ravman Powell shared in 48-run ninth wicket stand while last man Ryan Austin (4*), who hit a crucial square driven boundary off the last ball of the 48th over from Veerasammy Permaul, ensured that the last five produced 49 runs to send the CCC players into wild celebrations as if they had won the entire tournament.
Although last night’s victory put CCC level on six points with the Windwards who beat Barbados in Tobago in the other Zone ‘A’ match yesterday, the Islanders mammoth 374-6 in 50 overs ensured that they advanced to the semis along with Zone leaders Guyana on a better net run rate.

Led by 39 from Royston Crandon, 33 from Shiv Chanderpaul and an unbeaten 30 from Permaul, the Jaguars, thanks to a late order rally, reached 171-9 off their allotted 50 overs with debutant pacer Rovman Powell picking up 3-20 from 10 overs, leg-spinner Kevon Cottoy (2-45) and Kyle Mayers (2-27) offering support.
Wintz, in his first match of the competition, picked up two quick wickets while Chadwick Walton (7) was run out as the Students slipped to 39-3 before left-hander Paul Palmer’s painstaking 32 from 94 balls steadied the rocking ship, but came to slowly and put pressure on other scorers at an asking rate that had reached 14 runs per over.
When the 23-year-old Palmer, who looked organized, was removed by Devendra Bishoo the Students were 95-7 and seemingly out of the contest. However, the Powells joined forces and aided by some ordinary fielding and catching by the Jaguars in addition to some poor bowling from Permaul and Reifer in last few overs, tuned the game in CCC’s favour.
Ravman Powell hit three sixes in 31 from 30 balls after a slow start and when he was LBW to Barnwell at 160-9 the Students required 12 more to win with their last pair at the crease and Chris Powell 27 from 29 balls with four boundaries got them over the line in a game which went down to the wire.
Wintz and Bishoo (10-1-19-2), Steven Jacobs (10-2-21-0) and Royston Crandon (10-0-30-0) all produced frugal spells.
Earlier the Jaguars won the toss and elected to bat on another good batting track in bright sunshine after early morning rain had delayed the start of play by 15 minutes.
Trevon Griffith (2) continued his run of low scores when he was stupendously caught behind by a diving Chadwick Walton as the left-hander edged a ball that left him from pacer Christopher Powell with the score on 18-1.
Reifer, who played a match winning unbeaten 84 against Barbados and got off the mark with a pugnacious four, soon missed a big drive to the first ball bowled by leg-spinner Keron Cottoy and was bowled for seven.
Chandrika (26) played a few glorious drives and was just beginning to look good before he was bowled first ball by Rovman Powell who induced Barnwell to edge a catch to the Keeper next ball to send him packing for a first ball duck as two wickets tumbled with the score on 45.
The experienced 40-year-old Chanderpaul and Crandon, who got a ton on his one-day debut against the Windwards in 2007 in Grenada, joined forces to revive the position with a solid partnership to bat their team out of trouble when steady if at times slow scoring.
Crandon took a few more chances than Chanderpaul who was content with working the ball in the gaps. A couple of confident sweeps by Crandon off the spinners raced to the backward square leg boundary as the pair’s confidence increased the longer they spent at the crease.
The 50 was posted in the 25th over and their 50 partnership came up in the 39th over as skies over Port-of-Spain became dark and ominous.
Chanderpaul faced 58 dots balls and scored 23 singles in a laborious 84-ball 33 and put immense pressure on Crandon before he uncharacteristically charged Rovman Powell off the penultimate ball of the power-play and impetuously skied the ball ‘miles’ into the air for the bowler to take the catch to leave Guyana on 99-5.
Just when he was beginning to flow Crandon skied Kyle Mayers to extra cover for 39 from 65 balls to leave the Jaguars on 127-7 after former CCC Captain Steven Jacobs (2) had edged Cottoy to the Keeper at 113-6.
Anthony Bramble (20) and Permaul, who clobbered three sixes and a four in a rearguard unbeaten 30 from just 16 balls, added 53 for the eighth wicket before Bramble was bowled by Mayers.
Permaul launched into opening bowler Chris Powell and hit him for a couple of sixes after smashing him through extra cover for four while Bishoo (0) was run out at the non-striker’s end with three balls left in the innings off of a wide which went through to the Keeper.
After Wintz got rid of Shacaya Thomas (1) and Kyle Hope (16), Kavem Hodge was run out for one at 44-4 and Cassius Burton (8) was LBW to Permaul the CCC maroon were being marooned on 60-5 and at that point the task seemed like it would be too much for the inexperienced students, but they fought back splendidly and taught the Jaguars a fine lesson in not taking the opposition for granted when you have them on the ropes.

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