WICB PCL First-Class cricket

Nov 14, 2015 Sports

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Singh hits unbeaten 111, Shiv makes 65 as Jaguars crawl to 218 against Hurricanes

By Sean Devers
Vishaul Singh (111*) and Shiv Chanderpaul (65) rescued the Guyana Jaguars

from a precarious 21-3 with a slow but important 171-run partnership as the hosts crawled to 218-5 from 95 overs against the Leewards Hurricanes by end of the opening day of their second round of the WICB PCL four-day First-Class cricket tournament at Providence yesterday.
After inserting the Jaguars on a slow track, 18-year-old West Indies U-19 pacer Alzarri Joseph blew away the first three batsmen in 39 minutes with just 21 runs on the board.
The lively Joseph ripped out Test batsmen Rajendra Chandrika (7) and Leon Johnson (0) off consecutive deliveries to slip catches to leave the score on 16-2 before the Antiguan pacer trapped Assad Fudadin (5) LBW as he played around the ball five runs later.
However, the left-handed pair of senior statesman in the side Chanderpaul and his Vice-Captain joined forces to take their team to Lunch on 72-3 with a sedate but valuable 51-run stand from one hour and 20 minutes between the diminutive Singh (45), who dominated the partnership with Chanderpaul (7).
After the interval the fans which included many school children who expecting t20 like entertainment would have been bored by the battle of attrition that unfolded but which would have delighted the cricket connoisseurs as the level-headed pair started ‘operation rebuild’ with resolute batting on the fast and lush green outfield.
If there was a criticism of partnership it would be that the batsmen, Chanderpaul in particular, did not make more use of the bad balls and rotated the strike by picking up singles as they were kept in shackles for most of the day.
Singh, who made 48 in the first round, stroked the ball confidently but could not pierce the field, while, Chanderpaul, who has been playing at this level since 1992, struggled to get the ball off the square against bowlers, especially the burly off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall who operated with immaculate precision.
The 100 was posted in 47 overs as Singh found the boundary a few times with crafty stroke-play as conditions became overcast and by Tea Singh had reached 135-3 after Singh had got to his sixth 50 from 107 minutes, 244 balls with nine fours. Chanderpaul was on 40 and 63 runs were scored in the second session from 36 overs as the Hurricane bowlers continued to keep the batsmen on a tight leash.
Chanderpaul pulled off-spinner Jacques Taylor for four before dancing into Taylor and stroking him gloriously past mid-on for another boundary two balls later as the 41-year-old with the most Regional First-Class hundreds after Stuart Williams accelerated.
After the break both batsmen came out with a more positive mind set and Chanderpaul swept the impressive Cornwall for four to move to 49 before again reaching the ropes two balls later to bring up his 132nd First-Class 50 from 160 balls.
With batting bonus points available for scores over 200 in the first 110 overs, the batsmen made a consorted effort to change gear and Chanderpaul used his feet to Taylor and dispatched him to the cover boundary before the 26-year-old Singh reached his second century and first on home soil at this level from 270 minutes, 244 balls with nine fours.
Chanderpaul, at the top of his game would have sent shivers down the backs of the bowlers after being set on 65 and he would have been very likely to have progressed to his 72nd First-Class ton. But this was not the fluent Chanderpaul of five years ago and he soon drove Taylor the extra cover after batting 279 minutes, 210 balls and reaching the boundary six times to leave the Jaguars on 192-4.
In the context of what transpired in the first round when the Jaguars lost their last six wickets for 61 runs, the pair could have had that fact in the back of their minds and opted not to take any chances instead of trying to press for bonus batting points and the pedestrian paced 171 stand from 279 minutes was understandable.
Raymon Reifer (0) was bowled by a perfect arm-ball from Cornwell a run after Chanderpaul’s untimely demise, while Chris Barnwell played in his usual aggressive manner and got going with consecutive boundaries to be unbeaten on 19 by the close.
Singh was the other not batsman after facing 294 balls, batting for 330 minutes with 10 fours and if Barnwell can find the form which saw him getting a maiden century in the last round of the inaugural PCL against the Windwards in Dominica, the Jaguars could hope to get two points by reaching 250 in the next 15 overs.
Today is the second day and play will start at 09:30 hrs.

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