Rajendra Chandrika’s unbeaten half-century reinforced by Chris Barnwell’s five-wicket haul gave the Leon Johnson XI a 119-run lead over Vishaul Singh’s XI heading into day three in the first of two Cricket Guyana Inc.’s (CGI) organised four-day practice match played at the Bourda Cricket Ground.
Heading into day three, Chandrika was comfortably set on 53 with crisp 10 boundaries while Narsingh Deonarine was on a cautious eight and their team 73-2 in their second innings.
Off-spinner Steven Jacobs accounted for the two wickets to fall.
Due to a sprained finger which he picked up during recent net session, Johnson was forced to sit out of the first two days leaving the experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul to lead the side.
Singh’s XI wicket-keeper/ batsman Jason Sinclair stroked eight eye-catching fours in brisk manner as he top scored with 58. He shared an entertaining eight-wicket partnership of 78 runs with all-rounder Kemo Paul who chipped in with a useful 37 inclusive of two fours and a six as they were dismissed for 194 runs in reply to Johnson’s XI first innings total of 240 all out to trail by 46 runs. Barnwell was the destroyer-in-chief with the ball for Johnson XI after coming on as the first change, snaring an impressive 5-57 off 13 overs while Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai (2-28), Veerasammy Permaul (2-34) and Paul Wintz (1-42) lent good support.
Batting a second time Johnson XI openers Trevon Griffith and Chandrika faced up to the hustling, bustling Jeremy Gordon who had picked up four wickets in the first innings and would have had his fifth of the match when he had Griffith caught by Sinclair off a no-ball.
Chandrika came off the mark with a classy cover drive of pacer Raun Johnson in the second over but remained watchful thereafter. So too did Griffith who took a few overs to crack his first boundary straight down the ground off the same bowler.
Jacobs first struck when he removed Griffith for nine the batsman providing a simple catch to opposition skipper Singh in the covers. At 38-1 Robin Bacchus, who was in dire need of runs, walked to the middle in search of breaking his barren patch but failed when he was expertly caught by Royston Crandon at slips, rewarding Jacobs with his second wicket of the over. Deonarine, who was dismissed for one in the first innings dug in and sought to frustrate the bowlers along with Chandrika who was playing fluently and they took the score to 56 for 2 with the latter accounting for 40 of those runs.
Continuing his aggressive approach to the situation, Chandrika pulled the off-spinner Anthony Adams for his 10th four of the innings which also brought up his brisk half-century as the curtains came down on day two.
Earlier in the morning, Singh’s XI resumed their innings on 17-0 and encountered a similar start to that of the bowling team when they batted first on Monday, losing a cluster of wickets before the stroke of tea.
Overnight openers Kandasammy Surujnarine (4) and Tage Chanderpaul’s (26) watchfulness didn’t quite work out as the pair succumbed to catches by wicket-keeper Anthony Bramble off the bowling of Barnwell and Wintz respectively.
West Indies Under-19 batsman Shimron Hetmyer struck one boundary before he too was caught by Bramble attempting a wild flay off of Barnwell. The left-handed Singh was pinned LBW first ball by the rampaging Barnwell who picked up his third wicket. Left-hander Ricardo Adams looked positive during his innings of 20 muscling four boundaries in his brief knock before holing out to Barnwell giving Permaul his first wicket. Heading into the lunch interval Crandon was unbeaten on 12 and Jacobs yet to come of the mark with their team’s score identically set at 79 same as the Chanderpaul’s XI who had the same score during the first innings lunch score.
The West Indies T20 player Barnwell who was in a zone with the ball then capitalised on Jacobs’ lack of footwork which was exposed in the previous over before by Permaul, as the batsman attempted to leave alone a delivery which nipped back into the pads and trapped the right-hander LBW for 1.
The Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) all-rounder then acquired his fifth wicket of the innings when he induced an edge from Crandon (12) which flew into the hands of a waiting Chandrika at second slip, leaving his opponents reeling at 87-7.
With two new men at the crease in Sinclair and Paul, the Johnson XI had their tails up as they sensed a certain lead. However, Sinclair had other plans. He first came off the mark with a streaky four through the slip cordon facing up to Barnwell and then signaled his confidence with a thumping cut shot forward of square off the same bowler while Paul played within himself leaving his more senior partner to do the damage. Sinclair, who was short of runs during the inter-county tournament, confidently crept into the 40’s as the pair added 50 for the eighth wicket.
The stylish right-hander then brought up his brisk half-century with a flash which flew over point as he scampered for two runs, raising his bat to much elation after reaching his milestone. After looking set on course for a big score the wicket-keeper then softly popped a catch to Permaul giving his fellow Berbician Motie-Kanhai his first of two wickets.
Paul pushed on and looked certain for a half-century himself but was caught in the deep by Keon Joseph after attempting a big hit off Permaul. Opposition wicket-keeper Bramble then picked up his fourth catch of the innings when Adams (2) edged a fullish delivery from Motie-Kanhai, leaving Amir Khan stranded on 11, bringing an end to their innings.
The action continues today at 9:30hrs.
