PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Wicketkeeper/batsman Denesh Ramdin and stylish left-hander Darren Bravo warmed up for next week’s start of the first Test against Zimbabwe with half-centuries in the fourth round of the Regional Four-Day Championship here yesterday.
Playing at Queen’s Park Oval on the opening day of the contest against Guyana, Ramdin stroked an unbeaten 75 while Bravo carved out a typically attractive 66, as T&T batted all day to reach 269 for five.
Opener Lendl Simmons extended his good form from the recent Twenty20 International series with 51 while all-rounder Imran Khan finished unbeaten on 41.
West Indies left-arm Veerasammy Permaul also readied himself for the upcoming Test with a spell off 22 overs that yielded three wickets for 58 runs.
Sent in, T&T lost Adrian Barath cheaply when he edged seamer Assad Fudadin to Shiv Chanderpaul at slip for 12, with the score on 23 for one in the morning’s tenth over.
Simmons and Darren Bravo then buckled down to add 68 for the second wicket, as T&T denied the Guyanese any further immediate breakthroughs.
The right-handed Simmons faced 67 balls in 107 minutes at the crease and struck nine fours while Bravo hit six fours and two sixes in an innings that consumed 135 balls and lasted three hours and nine minutes.
However, Permaul struck twice in the last 15 minutes before lunch when he removed both Simmons and Dwayne Bravo, to reduce the hosts to 105 for three at the interval.
Simmons drove to Shiv Chanderpaul at cover before Dwayne Bravo was taken at slip by Ramnaresh Sarwan without scoring.
When the big-hitting Kieron Pollard was caught at mid-off by Ronsford Beaton off Permaul just after lunch, T&T were in freefall having lost three wickets for 24 runs.
Bravo and skipper Ramdin then stitched up the innings in a 67-run fifth wicket partnership before Ramdin and Imran Khan combined to add a further 87 in an unbroken sixth wicket partnership.
Ramdin, who struck 13 fours in 172 balls and just over 3-1/2 hours at the crease, lost Darren Bravo eight minutes before tea when he edged off-spinner Narsingh Deonarine to Sarwan at slip.
T&T kept their heads down, however, with Khan standing by Ramdin for 108 balls and 127 minutes, hitting five fours, to defy the Guyana attack.
Scoreboard
T&T 1st Innings
A Barath c S Chanderpaul b Fudadin 12
L Simmons c S Chanderpaul b Permaul 51
DM Bravo c Sarwan b Deonarine 66
DJ Bravo c Sarwan b Permaul 0
K Pollard c Beaton b Permaul 6
*+D Ramdin not out 75
I Khan not out 41
Extras (b9, lb2, w5, nb2) 18
TOTAL (5 wkts, 90 overs) 269
To bat: R Emrit, S Narine, A Jaggernauth, S Gabriel.
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-91, 3-103, 4-115, 5-182.
Bowling: Beaton 17-6-43-0, Wintz 11-5-30-0, Fudadin 6-3-21-1, Permaul 22-9-58-3, Bishoo 21-6-54-0, Deonarine 11-3-39-1, Sarwan 1-0-12-0, Chanderpaul 1-0-1-0
GUYANA – V Permaul (captain), T Chanderpaul, R Sarwan, A Fudadin, L Johnson, N Deonarine, S Chanderpaul, +D Christian, D Bishoo, P Wintz, R Beaton.
Toss: Guyana.
Umpires: Patrick Gustard, Norman Malcolm.
