WICB Four-Day First Class Franchise cricket: Permaul’s unbeaten 75 put Jaguars ahead on day one

Feb 07, 2015 Sports

---

By Sean Devers in Jamaica
In Association with Western Union
John Fernandes Ltd & Payless Varity Store

In an Island celebrating the 70th birth anniversary of one of its greatest musical legends the late great Bob Marley, a small working day crowd watched as Jamaica ended the opening day of their fifth round West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Four-Day First-Class Franchise match against the Guyana Jaguars at Sabina Park yesterday, losing the upper hand they held when the visitors were 175-6.
But a wonderful rearguard 84-run eight wicket stand between the Albion spin pair of Veerasammy Permaul, who finished unbeaten on a well compiled 75 from 99 balls, 148 minutes with nine fours and a six, and Devendra Bishoo (18) spearheaded the Jaguars to 298-8 when bad light stopped play with 1.5 overs left in the day’s play. Ronsford Beaton was with Permaul, yet to score after Bishoo was caught behind off the impressive Jason Dawes just before the close. This was Permaul’s third First-Class fifty.
After Skipper Leon Johnson (41), Raymond Reifer and Shiv Chanderpaul (29 each) departed to leave the score on 175-6, Jamaica were in charge in their backyard before Anthony Bramble (47) and the eighth wicket pair revived the position to leave the Jaguars in charge going into the second day today.
Odean Browne (3-70), Damion Jacobs (2-64) and Dawes (2-15) toiled all day for the home team.
Jamaica, who have only lost once to Guyana in the last decade, won the toss and asked Guyana to bat on a track with a tinge of grass and 18-year-old Berbice left-hander Shemron Hetymer counter-attacked the new ball attack of Dawes and Marquino Mindley, being especially severe on Mindley.
Vice-Captain Vishaul Singh, who scored his maiden century in the last Four-day game against Trinidad & Tobago, was promoted to open in place of the regular opener Rajendra Chandrika who is suffering from ‘Gastro’.
Singh played the supporting role until he again played an ‘out of character’ hook and was taken at square-leg off the lively Dawns after the diminutive left-hander had survived five consecutive short balls in the over.
Singh’s demise for six at 13-1 brought Skipper Leon Johnson to the crease but with the score on 35 Hetymer, whose 22 was decorated with five fours on the fast outfield, edged one that left him to wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh to give David Bernard his first wicket.

Bajan Reifer, batting at number four in place of the Test batsman Narsingh Deonarine who is suffering from the flu, got off the mark with a flowing off-drive for four but took another 35 balls to score his next runs; another boundary off Mindley before hitting the pacer for a disdainful six in the same over.
Reifer and Johnson, just back from South Africa with the West Indies team, repaired the early damage with solid batting with Johnson hooking Bernard for four when he pitched short.
The 50 was posted in 80 minutes as the partnership progressed nicely with Reifer greeting leg-spinner Jacobs with a forcing cover-driven boundary before hitting the leggie through the hands of Bernard at mid-on with his score on 23 as the ball went for four.
Browne was caressed by two elegant cover drives from Johnson which reached the boundary like bullets. However, with the partnership on 63 and the score 98, Reifer edged a Googly to slip off Jacobs on the stroke of Lunch after reaching the boundary four times and clearing it once in his 79-minute 29.
Chanderpaul joined Johnson after the interval and stroked Jacobs for four to bring up the 100 in 121 minutes in the first over after lunch and the pair put together 28 for the fourth wicket. When nine away from his 22nd First-Class fifty, Johnson swiveled and pulled a long-hop from Jacobs straight to Mindley at backward square after doing all the hard work in sweltering heat by batting for 163 minutes and hitting seven fours to leave the Jaguars on126-4.
Chanderpaul, who made an unbeaten 303 here in 1996 against Jamaica which still remains the highest Regional First-Class score, pulled Jacobs pugnaciously for four before clipping him off his legs for four more and already the 40-year veteran was looking dangerous.
However, the left-hander from Unity Village in Guyana who needs another 178 runs to pass Brian Lara as the highest West Indian run-scorer in Test cricket was beaten in the flight and missed a big drive to be comprehensively bowled by Browne for 29 from 79 minutes with five fours as the Jaguars sunk to 140-5.
Bramble clobbered two sixes in the same over before he lost Barnwell (9) as Browne struck again at 175-6 on a ground where the South Americans were bowled out for 41 by Jamaica in 1986. By Tea the Jaguars had reached 188-6 with Bramble on 28 and Permaul on 12.
After a delay of 50 minutes after Tea because of a sharp shower, Bramble who hammered five fours and three sixes in an attacking 47 from 81 minutes, was bowled by Browne to leave the Jaguars on 213-7.
But Permaul and Bishoo joined forces to take the score to 297 with positive stroke play as the pair of Albion spinners played an array of audacious shots before Bishoo was removed after batting for 81 minutes.

---

---