Opener Assad Fudadin top scored with a patient 41 for the Guyana team on day-one of their four-day warm-up match against the Rest XI played at the National Stadium, Providence, as the players prepare for the four-day leg of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional 2014 tournaments.
Batting first the National team, led by skipper Leon Johnson declared their first innings after making 203 -9 from 84.5 overs.
Batsman Vishal Singh picked up an injury before the match and was unable to bat.
Fudadin, who was his team’s top-scorer, struck four boundaries from 121 deliveries and was involved in a 66-run opening stand with ex-West Indies opener Sewnarine Chattergoon who also struck four boundaries in his score of 37.
Other contributions came from Chanderpaul Hemraj who batted confidently for his 39.
Hemraj struck three boundaries in his innings and added 38 for the third-wicket with Fudadin.
Wicket-keeper Anthony Bramble (16) and Christopher Barnwell (12) got starts for the middle-order prior to their dismissals while spin-twins Veerasammy Permaul (17) and Devendra Bishoo (12) stabilised the lower-order with a 29-run partnership.
The pugnacious Jonathan Foo, who is more renowned for his big-hitting was the pick of the bowlers grabbing 3 for 23 from 11 overs while all-rounder Rajiv Ivan picked up two wickets for no runs, fast-bowler Randy Knights claimed 2 for 35 while Zaheer Mohamed and Seon Daniels chipped in with a wicket each.
At stumps the Rest team were trailing by 192-runs in their first innings after pacer Ronsford Beaton removed opener Royan Fredericks for four, leaving Robin Bacchus on four and Rajendra Chandrika yet to come off the mark.
Earlier, the two left-handed openers Chattergoon and Fudadin patiently approached the innings bringing up their 66-run partnership at the lunch interval. A double blow by Knights saw him removing Chattergoon who was caught in the slips by Bacchus, and Johnson who edged one to wicket-keeper Jason Sinclair for six leaving the score at 78-2.
Hemraj then joined Fudadin and the two sought to rebuild the innings after the fall of the two crucial wickets but, after a promising start to their partnership, Mohamed had Fudadin cleanly stumped by Sinclair while Foo had Hemraj pinned LBW.
Barnwell and Bramble were their usual confident selves but failed to push on, while Bishoo and Permaul resisted for a few overs before Foo and Ivan made inroads removing the two spinners in quick succession, leaving Beaton stranded on 3.
When the Rest team batted, Fredericks managed a boundary of Beaton only to have his leg stump uprooted a few balls later. Bacchus got off the mark with a classy on-drive while his partner Chandrika was yet to score.
The action continues today at 9:30hrs.
