Captain Veerasammy Permaul’s five-wicket haul, reinforced by two half-century knocks from Steven Jacobs and Derwin Christian guided the Permaul XI to a 10-run win over Christopher Barnwell’s XI yesterday in the warm- up 50-overs a side match played at the Everest Cricket Club ground.
In a match organised by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and its selection panel in a bid to fine-tune players for this Thursday’s upcoming warm-up match against Pakistan, both Permaul who was named as the warm-up squad’s skipper, Barnwell and their players were given the opportunity to put in some valuable practice by tackling each other yesterday.
Permaul’s XI decided to bat after winning the toss and compiled a challenging 243 all out in 47.1 overs. Opener Trevon Griffith and national keeper Anthony Bramble got off to a good start before Bramble was dismissed by left arm pacer Andre Stoll for 4.
Meanwhile, West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan’s batting woes continued. Sarwan managed to reach double figures before he was stumped by keeper Christian off the bowling of all-rounder and opposition skipper Barnwell for 10.
The partnership between Griffith and Sarwan however, yielded 46 runs before Griffith who looked well set for a half century, departed on 44 which came from 41 balls and included six boundaries.
Left-handers Narsingh Deonarine (3) and Assad Fudadin (11) fell in quick succession, while in-form middle order batsman Leon Johnson hit a classy 71 which included four fours and two maximums and partnered with all- rounder Zaheer Mohamed who hit a belligerent 48 off 40 balls, smashing four of them over the boundary and one on the roof for a six.
Bowling for the Barnwell XI was spearheaded by the all-rounder Jacobs, who picked up 3 for 45 and was supported by spinner Steven Sankar who grabbed 2 for 8. Other bowlers who hit form with the ball included Andre Stoll 1 for 24, Barnwell 1 for 13, Anthony Adams 1 for 31 and Robin Bacchus 1 for 31.
In reply, Permaul’s XI stumbled in their chase as they were bowled out for 233 in 43.3 overs. Openers Robin Bacchus and Shemroy Barrington started out positively. Barrington played well for his 15 and looked positive in his drives which rewarded him with two boundaries, but lost his way edging Joseph to keeper Bramble, while Bacchus who slugged in his start immediately began to open up after his partner’s dismissal carving seven fours and a six in his knock of 46, before he lost his wicket to skipper Permaul.
Former national batsman, Gajanand Singh occupied 24 deliveries for his 15, hitting one four before he was dismissed by Permaul. Skipper Barnwell was the next to go as he was unluckily trapped lbw on the first ball by Permaul who began to cause trouble for the opposition while being economical in the process.
The repair job was done by the all-rounder Jacobs (60) and keeper Christian (66) who added 90 for the 7th wicket partnership and smacked some lusty blows. Christian slammed three fours and four monster sixes, some of which visited the car park, while Jacobs hit four boundaries and 2 maximums as the two gave their side much needed hope after the loss of key players.
Jacobs eventually lost his wicket to the part-time spin of Narsingh Deonarine, while Christian saw the tail collapse around him as he soon gave Fudadin some catching practice off the bowling of Keon Joseph.
Anthony Adams provided a brief cameo of 23 but was soon trapped lbw by Joseph who ended with 4 wickets.
Skipper Permaul ended with excellent figures of 10 overs, 5 for 26, while Joseph who was a bit expensive, going for 59, picked up four scalps in the process.
Permaul, Johnson, Jacobs, Griffith and Barnwell will now turn their attention to tomorrow’s official warm up 50-overs-a-side game against Pakistan.
