Regional Super50… Pooran 2nd consecutive fifty and Narine’s 3-28 condemn Jaguars to 35-run loss

Oct 06, 2018 Sports

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By Sean Devers in Trinidad
In association with Vnet, Regal,
Noble House Seafoods & Cascadia Hotel

T&T Red force, with eight West Indies players in their side, showed they are a force to be reckoned with when they romped to their second win last night at the Queen’s Park Oval with a 35-run victory against Guyana Jaguars playing their first match in Regional Super50 for this year.
The 23-year old Nicholas Pooran again showed his class and followed-up his 89 on Wednesday with a fluent 75 from 80 balls with six fours and two sixes and along with Skipper Denish Ramdin, who reached the boundary twice in his 28 from 59 balls, added 60 for the fourth wicket after Evin Lewis (22) had shared in a 51-run opening stand with Lendl Simmons whose 41-ball 26 included three fours.
Kieron Pollard (21) and Dwayne Bravo (23) chipped in as the Red Force reached 242 all out. Romario Shepherd (3-56), Clinton Pestano (3-45) and Chris Barnwell (2-19) did the damage for the Jaguars who replied with 207 in 49 overs.
Trevon Griffith (38) and Leon Johnson (32) added 70 for the second wicket but nobody else reached 20 as Sunil Narine (3-28), Khary Perrier (2-30) and Imran Khan (2-30) did the damage with the ball.
Chanderpaul Hemraj faced 19 dot balls in his six before he skied a short ball from Bravo to Ramdin, who is still the best Keeper in the Region, to leave Guyana on 14-1.
Leon Johnson hit four boundaries, most of them from pulls when Bravo bowled short, while Griffith also played his shots including a scintillating drive back past Bravo’s ankle for four and together added 70 for the second wicket before Johnson was brilliant dismissed by a leg-side catch by Ramdin off left-arm spinner Khary Perrier at 74-2.
Trevon Griffith was neatly stumped off Imran Khan at 92-3 before Barnwell and Reifer joined forces but Reifer did not last long before providing Ramdin his third catch and his fourth dismissal in the game to leave the score 110-4.
Barnwell (19) was next to go when he was taken in the deep as Khan struck again at 128-5 and when Sherfane Rutherford (11) was taken at long-off at off Narine who also removed Romario Shepherd (3) and Anthony Bramble (16) and the Jaguars were badly wounded on 165-8 and they never recovered despite a fighting 14 from Veerasammy Permaul and a cameo from Clinton Pestano toward the end.
Earlier, in bright sunshine there was a delay of 10-minutes due to the unavoidable absence of both official scorers and Jaguars, who left out Motie, Chanderpaul and Adams, won the toss and Evin Lewis got Red Force going with punch past cover off Shepherd.
A small crowd watched as Simmons cover drove Shepherd for a boundary in the third over which included five dot balls as the Jaguars kept the openers on a tight leash before Simmons broke the shackles with an imperious cover driven boundary off Bajan Raymon Reifer.
Lewis stroked Shepherd through cover for four before hitting him over mid-off for the second boundary in the over as the stand began to blossom for the Red force, who again rested the injured Daren Bravo, Jason Mohamed and left out Ravi Rampaul.
A spanking boundary off Reifer from Simmons sped across the lush green and fast outfield and when Pestano was introduced in the eight over and Lewis pivoted and pulled for four to post the 50 in 8.3 overs.
Barnwell, one of five seamers in the side, got the breakthrough in his first over at 51-1 in the ninth over when Lewis hit a ball that seemed to stop on him for Rutherford to take an easy catch at short mid-wicket.
Bajan Kyle Hope joined Simmons on a straw coloured and slightly sluggish track but did not last long as Hope (2) chopped one from Barnwell onto his stumps to leave the score on 57-2.
It was soon 67-3 when the well set Simmons (26) was run out by a good piece of fielding from Griffith and it could have been 67-4 when Ramdin was dropped by ‘Keeper Bramble on six off Barnwell.
Pooran, who scored 89 against the Volcanoes, caressed Shepherd gloriously off the front foot past mid-off four and disdainfully pulled the Berbician for four when he over compensated and bowled short.
Permaul was deposited for six by the in-form Pooran to post the 100 in the 23rd over, while the other specialist spinner, Ramaal Lewis was brought on in the 24th over and broke the fourth wicket stand when he removed Ramdin at 130-4.
Pooran continued to bat positively and soon reached his second fifty from 52 balls with five fours and a six, while Kieron Pollard dumped Lewis over wide long-off for six and the 150 came up in 33 overs.
Pollard skied a short ball from Pestano to the Wicketkeeper at 173-5 in a partnership of 43 with Pooran who turned 23 on October 2.
Pooran, in only his 13th Regional 50-over game, dumped Lewis for a massive six before he was removed by Shepherd at 194-6.
Narine brought up the 200 by hooking Shepherd for six in the 42nd over but was soon bowled by Pestano.
Bravo hit Pestano for a couple of sixes before he was bowled at 227-9 before Shepherd wrapped up the innings.
The Jaguars play West Indies ‘B’ tomorrow at the Brian Lara Academy which is close to an hour’s drive from Port-of-Spain where they are staying.

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