Trinidad & Tobago opener Amir Jangoo stroked a masterful century to help his team to a draw against Barbados yesterday in the second round of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional U19 tournament played at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The young left-hander batted for 298 minutes and faced 210 deliveries, cracking nine fours in his innings of 101 which complemented his first innings score 79.
He got support from the consistent Brian Christmas who stroked an eye-catching 66 as Trinidad ended their second innings on 239 for 9 87.4 overs setting the Bajans a target of 254 to win.
Left-arm spinner Chad Williams continued his menacing ways, snaring 4-77 in the second innings, adding to his first innings haul of 7-61 for a match haul of 11-138.
Chasing the steep total with time against them Barbados were 103 for 4 from 37.2 overs, 151 runs behind a probable victory. Akil Greenidge top scored with 41 while the Trinidadian bowlers Samuel Roopnarine (2-43), Tevin Jandhoo (1-13) and Anderson Phillips (1-4) operated with efficiency.
Trinidad in their first innings were bowled out for 199 in 71.2 overs courtesy of Williams who followed up his 7-wicket haul against Jamaica with another fantastic display of spin bowling.
Jangoo offered resistance with his half-century while contributions from Christmas (22), Brandon Jaggernauth (23) and Jameel Maniram (36) contributed to the total.
In their first innings, Barbados fell 14-runs short of their target when they were reduced to 185 all out in 66.4 overs. Matthew Jones’ unbeaten 81 batting at number 8 was the backbone of the Bajan innings after his fellow teammates succumbed to the likes of Roopnarine (4-64), Phillips (2-12) and Justin Joseph (2-30).
Le-Germon Gaskin (10) was the first to go caught behind by the wicketkeeper as Barbados went into tea at 19-1. Upon resumption of the last session Dikembe Wilson (8) was bowled by Roopnarine as the Bajans accepted that a draw was indeed the most likely result.
After a painstaking period during the last session after tea, Joshua Drakes (37) was caught at mid-on leaving Jafari Toppin unbeaten on 5 as curtains eventually came down at 17:00hrs when both skippers along with officials acknowledged that an outright result was not possible.
Earlier, Trinidad were well placed on 77-1 with Christmas and Jangoo resuming on 31 and 44 respectively heading into the final day after Captain Jeremy Solozano was trapped lbw by Springer for duck minutes before the close of play on day two.
The pair pressed on in stylish fashion both bringing up their half-centuries before Christmas was caught by Joshua Drakes at first slip off Persaud’s bowling. Jangoo played with caution and poise as he, along with new man Camillo Carimbocas took their team to a lead of 169 with 8 wickets remaining heading into lunch.
The session after lunch saw the in-from Jangoo reaching his milestone with a crisp drive for four through the offside. Unfortunately, the left-hander was caught the very next ball attempting another drive and was caught at long on by Matthew Jones.
Despite the quick dismissals of Phillips (1), Roopnarine (3), Carimbocas (29), Maniram (04) and Brandon Jaggernauth (10), Trinidad were still in a position of comfort.
