Despite flooring a number of chances and being without regular skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan for the entire day, Guyana held on to secure first innings points from Barbados after a spirited battle between the two teams on the second day of their Carib Beer Series encounter at Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) Bourda ground yesterday.
Leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo, a thorn in the Bajans side over the years, grabbed 4-66 to send the visitors crashing to 268 all out. Opener Dale Richards, who was dropped on 33 top scored with 84. He batted for 215 minutes and struck nine fours while Floyd Reifer scored 41, Shamarh Brooks 25 and Tino Best and Alcondo Holder 23 each.
Guyana, in their second innings were 22 for the loss of Sewnarine Chattergoon’s wicket as the opener fell to the first ball bowled by Barbadian skipper Ryan Hinds, who became the second Barbadian bowler to take a hat-trick against Guyana since Roddy Estwick in 1983.
Hinds had removed Verasammy Permaul and Jeremy Gordon with the last two balls of the Guyana first innings.
At the close of the second day’s play stand-in skipper Travis Dowlin was not out on 16 and Assad Fudadin not yet off the mark.
Earlier, Richards and Wayne Blackman put on an opening stand of 35 before Blackman deceived by Rayon Griffith’s slower ball lobbed a simple catch to Dowlin at mid-off.
Richards was 33 when Griffith misjudged a catch at log-off, off Nagamootoo. However, in the same over, Hinds, who had replaced Blackman, was caught by Azemul Hannif just forward of square off the bowling of Nagamootoo for 15 to leave the Barbadians on 75-2.
At lunch, Barbados were 85-2 with Richards on 46 and Floyd Reifer on 2.
Shortly after the interval, Richards was dropped again at 49 by Fudadin at short-extra cover. Again, the unlucky bowler was Nagamootoo.
Reifer then hit a delivery from Nagamootoo straight into the lap of young Permaul who muffed it. Reifer was then on 19 and the score 105-2.
The partnership was beginning to look dangerous, but when it was worth 75, Reifer wandered too far across and Gordon removed his leg stump for 41.
Richards eventually went playing across a ball from Nagamootoo and was given out leg-before.
Alcindo Holder was then dismissed on the stroke of tea for 23, leg-before to Permaul.
The innings ended approximately one hour after the interval.
Brooks, after scoring 25, edged a Griffith delivery that pitched outside the off stump and Nagamootoo at first slip took a comfortable catch 218-6.
Carlo Morris was caught by Chattergoon at second slip for 19 off the bowling of Nagamootoo while Ryan Austin played across the line to Permaul and was leg-before for three.
Tino Best entertained the small crowd with some lusty hitting in his cameo 23 but Pedro Collins and Fidel Edwards, who celebrated his birthday, was bowled by Gordon without scoring as the Bajans fell agonizingly short.
Guyana started their second innings having to survive ten overs from the hostile Barbados pace attack. But it was the left-arm spinner Hinds who was to have the solitary success. He had snuffed out the lower order in the last over on the previous day and was on a hat-trick, and promptly bowled Chattergoon (2) with a ball that was only four overs old.
Royston Crandon who opened in the first innings has a sore groin muscle but is expected to bat while manager Carl Moore said Sarwan has a chipped bone in his right thumb and will take no further part in this game.
Sarwan is expected to be out for three weeks. He was hit on the glove by a Fidel Edwards delivery on the first day and retired hurt after scoring only eight.