By Delvon Mc Ewan
Veersammy Permaul and Narsingh Deonarine yesterday combined to bowl Guyana back into their regional four-day match against the Windward Islands at the Providence National Stadium after the locals had surrendered first innings points.
At the close of the third day’s play the Windward Islands were 96-8 an overall lead of 190 heading into today’s fourth and final day.
The left arm spinner Permaul, found a new spin twin in off-spinner Deonarine and the pair ripped through the Windwards second innings with Permaul bagging six wickets for 42 runs and Deonarine two for 28.
The Guyana team obviously did their homework when they opened the bowling with Permaul and Deonarine and the move paid rich dividends as the Windwards lost two wickets without a run on the board.
First to go was West Indies test discard Devon Smith who was lbw to Deonarine off the third ball of the first over while Tyrone Theophile was caught by wicketkeeper Bramble off Permaul’s fourth delivery.
The Windwards finally got the score board moving when Keddy Lesporis edged a Permaul delivery past slip for two and followed that up with a boundary before succumbing trying to force a delivery from Deonarine into the on side only for the ball to ricochet off Assad Fudadin’s body at short leg into the hands of the bowler.
The scorecard read 7-3 and the Windwards were in deep trouble.
Romel Currency then joined his brother and first innings century maker Sunil Ambris at the crease. Ambris looked firm in defence but Currrency seemed uncomfortable in the face of Deonarine and Permaul’s spin variations.
Currency released some pressure by hitting Deonarine down the ground for four but in Permaul’s fifth over he was unlucky not to have Ambris caught at short leg as Fudadin floored a diving effort.
Deonarine was soon replaced by Bishoo, but the former West Indies test leg-spinner did not create any pressure with his back of a length bowling and the batsmen seemed very comfortable batting him.
Permaul was to have the last laugh as he was able to remove
Ambris who was caught at silly mid-off by Fudadin.
Permaul struck again when he had Liam Sebastien, who replaced Ambris, caught at short leg for six in the 20th over.
Lyndon James was next in, but he did not stay long at the crease as he was removed by Permaul to a good catch at the solitary first slip by Christopher Barnwell, to leave Windward reeling at 43-6.
Batting at number eight, Alston Bobb playing in his fifth first-class match was forced to survive two overs before the tea break with Currency.
Bobb hit two consecutive boundaries through the covers off Deonarine to regain some momentum just before the interval which came with the Windwards 62-6 and a lead of 156. Bobb was not out on 11 and Currency not out on 22.
After an extended tea break due to rain, the final session began. Currency continued to bat with
confidence, using his feet to the spinners to pick up a couple boundaries off through midwicket, as he tried his utmost to give his team a winning fourth innings total. At 81, Bobb (16) was caught by Fudadin at silly mid-off to give him his third catch of the innings, while Permaul completed his 10th five-wicket haul at first-class level as he broke a 38-run, sixth-wicket partnership.
The Guyana bowlers continued to make inroads. Kenroy Peters was next out, leg before wicket as he looked to play forward while Delorn Johnson survived two overs before close of play, to be unbeaten on one with Currency who will resume batting on the final day on 40.
Guyana will be looking to dismiss their opponents early in the morning to give themselves a chance to win their first game of the season.
Earlier, continuing from 187-7 overnight with Davendra Bishoo on 23 and Anthony Bramble on 29, Guyana’s innings resumed 40 minutes after the scheduled time due to early morning rain. In overcast condition, Bishoo scored the first runs of the day by steering a delivery from Liam Sebastien through the third man area for two, before hitting the fourth ball of the day off the back foot to the cover boundary for four.
Bramble who very defensive in Peter’s first over of the day, got going when the pacer induced an edge that fell short between the wicket keeper and Devon Smith at first slip and raced to the boundary for four.
With the Batsmen looking solid in defense, and Windward Islands needing three wickets to gain first innings points, the rain return to halt play for two hours during which lunch was taken. On resumption, at 12:50 p.m., Bishoo edged the first delivery from Peters to be caught by the wicket keeper for 29. The next over saw Bramble who was on 34 providing a return catch off the leading edge to Sebastien who dropped the catch.
Veersammy Permaul who joined forces with Bramble after Bishoo’s dismissal started very positively as he hit Peters first two deliveries in the 84th over for consecutive boundaries, before taking a single to get off strike. Bramble did not make use of the life given in the previous over as he opted to play a reckless shot off Peters’ to a wide ball outside off stump aiming through mid-wicket, getting an inside edge unto his stumps.
The last wicket pair of Permaul and Keon Joseph added eight runs before Permaul was leg before wicket to Peters, to give him his fourth wicket of that innings to finish as the chief wicket taker for his team with figures of 4-46. While his skipper Sebastian supported well with 2-75.
Scoreboard
WINDWARDS 1st Innings 307
GUYANA 1st Innings
(overnight 187 for seven)
S. Chattergoon c Theophile b Johnson 1
T. Chanderpaul c wkp James b Pascal 0
A. Fudadin c Smith b Sebastien 82
V. Singh lbw b Peters 14
N. Deonarine run out 0
*S. Chanderpaul c wkp James b Sebastien 26
C. Barnwell c wkp James b Bobb 13
+A. Bramble b Peters 35
D. Bishoo c wkpr James b Peters 29
V Permaul lbw b Peters 12
K Joseph not out 1
Extras (nb1) 1
TOTAL (all out, 90 overs) 213
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-36, 4-37, 5-117, 6-136, 7-137, 8-198, 9-207, 10-213.
Bowling: Pascal 10-5-19-1, Johnson 9-3-22-1, Peters 17-8-42-4, Sebastien 34-14-75-2, Bobb 19-2-51-1, Smith 1-0-4-0.
WINDWARDS 2nd Innings
D Smith lbw b Deonarine 0
T. Theophile c wkp Bramble b Permaul 0
S. Ambris c Fudadin b Permaul 8
K. Lesporis c & b Deonarine 6
R. Currency not out 40
*L. Sebastien c Fudadin b Permaul 6
+L. James c Barnwell b Permaul 4
A. Bobb c Deonarine b Permaul 16
K. Peters lbw b Permaul 6
D. Johnson not out 1
Extras ((b8, lb1) 9
TOTAL (8 wkts, 43 overs) 96
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-7, 4-23, 5-37, 6-43, 7-81, 8-95.
Bowling: Deonarine 12-4-28-2, Permaul 21-5-42-6, Bishoo 10-2-17-0.
Position: Windwards lead by 190 runs with two wickets standing.
Toss: Windward Islands.
Umpires: N Shivsankar, L Reifer.
