PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – A classy century from Assad Fudadin combined with late afternoon rain to secure Guyana a draw on the final day of their sixth round Regional Four-Day clash with Trinidad and Tobago here yesterday.
Starting the day perilously perched on 31 for two still 28 runs in arrears, Guyana safely negotiated the Trinidadian bowling to reach 208 for five at the tea break.
Heavy rain then put paid to any chance of an outright result and both captains shook hands on the stalemate.
Guyana, who have drawn a bye in the next round starting this weekend, will now sit nervously and wait for the results of the other games to see if they will book their place in the semi-finals.
They have moved to 39 points while T&T have 34 points.
Captain Shiv Chanderpaul said he was proud of the side’s performance in the competition, especially against the backdrop of the impasse between the Guyana Cricket Board and the Guyana Government.
“We have tried to concentrate on the cricket instead of the battle with the cricket administration back home and we are happy with our performances so far,” the veteran West Indies left-hander said.
“As far as going all the way in this tournament is concerned, we just have to sit and wait for the final round results and take it from there. We are happy with just going out there and playing for our country and once we fit into the semis we will be giving it our best shot.”
Fudadin’s knock made all the difference for Guyana, especially with a fired up T&T chasing victory and full points.
The left-hander faced 212 balls, struck 14 fours in an innings spanning 288 minutes, and anchored two key partnerships which fueled Guyana’s innings.
He stretched his overnight, third wicket stand with Narsingh Deonarine (23) to 65 before putting on a further 88 for the fourth wicket with Ramnaresh Sarwan who got 41.
Hostile fast bowler Shannon Gabriel finished with three for 56.
SCOREBOARD T&T
GUYANA 1st Innings 290
TT 1st Innings 349
GUYANA 2nd Innings
(overnight 31 for two)
L Johnson lbw Gabriel 0
C Hamraj c Khan b Gabriel 9
A Fudadin c J Mohammed b Emrit 108
N Deonarine c Emrit b Kanhai 23
R Sarwan c Guillen b Gabriel 41
S Chanderpaul not out 14
C Barnwell not out 6
Extras (b5, lb1, w1) 7
TOTAL (5 wkts, 79 overs) 208
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-22, 3-87, 4-175, 5-195.
Bowling: Gabriel 18-2-56-3, Emrit 14-8-19-1, Cooper 6-0-24-0, Kantasingh 10-1-26-0, Kanhai 16-5-42-1, Khan 15-4-35-0.
Result: Match drawn.
Points: T&T 6, Guyana 3.
Toss: T&T.
Man-of-the-Match: Adrian Barath.
Umpires: Anisur Rahman (Bangladesh), Vivian Johnson