Skipper Christopher Barnwell bludgeoned an unbeaten century yesterday against the Leon Johnson-led XI in the first day of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Senior Inter-county 3-day trial match held at the Everest Cricket Ground.
The all-rounder mauled the opposition bowlers during his innings of 105 which was decorated with five fours and seven monster sixes. He was strongly supported by Chris Patadin who hammered thirteen boundaries along with a pair of sixes in his knock of 93 after opener Trevon Griffith
scored a solid 53 to get proceedings underway.
At stumps the Barnwell-led team was 358 for 9 with the skipper still at the crease and Kellon Carmichael holding up his end with 1 not out. Fast bowler Randy Knights picked up 2 for 38 from 9 overs but was overshadowed by unorthodox left-arm spinner Totaram Bishun who captured 3 for 94 from 16 overs. Paul Wintz, Shaquille Williams, Atonell Atwell and Zaheer Mohamed were the other bowlers with one wicket apiece.
Earlier Griffith carved three boundaries and two maximums in his patient knock with partner Rajendra Chandrika (27). The two looked well on their way to registering a huge opening total before Griffith was caught by Vishal Singh off the bowling of Knights.
Bishun immediately found success removing Chandrika who was softly caught by Williams at shortish mid-off. With the score 97 for 2 at lunch, Jeetendra Sookdeo (16) looked good during his innings upon resumption of play after tea, but was soon trapped LBW by Atwell.
Patadin continued along his way taking a special liking to the spinners who at times were short in their length and were effortlessly pulled away through the mid-wicket boundary. After the dismissal of Sookdeo, he was then partnered by National all-rounder Stephen Jacobs (5) who was unable to build an innings and was bamboozled by Bishun, leaving the score at 111 for 4.
Wicket-keeper Derwin Christian (37) started out scratchy against the slower bowlers, especially Bishun who was already in his zone. Then, Patadin, seven runs short of a well-played century, was caught by Atwell off the bowling of Bishun.
After his dismissal the onslaught began, Barnwell walked to the middle and along with Christian proceeded to add 59 for the sixth wicket. At tea, the batting side was comfortably set on 252 for 5 with the skipper looking ominous.
After the tea break Christian soon fell and Barnwell motored along into the 90s, clobbering back-to-back sixes off Atwell to signal his intent of bringing up three figures in commanding fashion. He soon reached his century with a single, significantly aiding in the accumulation of the team’s 350 mark in the 67 over.
After the cheap dismissals of Yatesh Dhanpaul (0) and Kemol Savory (11), the skipper and Carmichael were left stranded at the end of the day’s play, both looking to take their team close to a possible 400-run mark with a definite psychological advantage.
With two more days left to play, the Barnwell-led XI will fancy their chances of winning this encounter which will be used by selectors to finalise squads for the upcoming four-day tournament which is scheduled to bowl off on November 28.
