(CMC) – A penetrative spell from Veerasammy Permaul trumped half-centuries from Nkrumah Bonner and Jason Holder to give Guyana the edge over Combined Campuses & Colleges in the Regional 4-Day Tournament on Thursday.
Left-arm spinner Permaul, the Guyana captain, grabbed five wickets for 63 runs from 22.3 overs and Brandon Bess supported with three for 38 from nine overs, as CCC, choosing to bat, were dismissed for 194 in their first innings about 40 minutes after tea on the opening day of their third round match at Warner Park.
Bonner hit the top score of 57 for the CCC, but Holder propped up their batting with a career-best 50 in the lower order, after another inexplicable batting collapse.
Leon Johnson, not out on 25, and fellow left-hander Narsingh Deonarine, not out on 19, propelled the Guyanese to 72 for two at the close.
Guyana, the substantive home team, were set back early, when Holder brilliantly caught opener Rajendra Chandrika one-handed at gully diving full length to his right off Kevin McClean for a duck in the first over.
The Guyanese suffered another setback, when Sewnarine Chattergoon was caught at second slip for 23 fending a ball from Jason Dawes.
Deonarine joined Johnson and they battled through to the close to put Guyana back on track, adding 45 – unbroken – for the third wicket.
Earlier, CCC too, was put on the back-foot from the very first ball of the match, when their captain Romel Currency was caught at third slip off Brandon Bess.
Kyle Corbin came to the crease and put on 43 for the second wicket with Yannick Ottley before he was caught at second slip off Assad Fudadin, bowling his military medium-pace.
A stand of 52 between Ottley and Bonner carried CCC to 95 for two at lunch, but things started to unravel after the interval.
CCC lost four wickets – two to Bess – for 18 in the space of five overs, slumping to 113 for six.
Bess had Ottley caught at second slip for 32 and veteran player/coach Floyd Reifer caught at mid-on for a duck.
In between, Raymon Reifer, Floyd’s cousin, was run out for zero in a mix-up with Bonner before Permaul spun into action, when he had Chadwick Walton caught behind for two.
Jamaican Bonner reached his 50 from 74 balls, adding some beef to the CCC total with fellow West Indies High Performance Centre graduate Holder before he was lbw to Permaul sweeping.
Permaul, another HPC graduate, swept through the tail-end batting in between the enterprising batting from Holder, whose half-century came from 89 balls, before he was lbw to the spinner also attempting a sweep.
CCC are unchanged, but Brandon Bess replaced the ill Devendra Bishoo for Guyana.
CCC and Guyana are two of four sides tied for second on 12 points, having lost one and won of their first two matches.
CCC lost their opening match against T&T by 172 runs before rebounding to beat Leewards by an innings and 15 runs.
Guyana also crushed the Leewards by 234 runs before losing against Windward Islands by five wickets.
The Guyanese are seeking their first victory ever over the CCC.
