Shimron Hetmyer’ chanceless century complemented by Royston Crandon’ 97 piloted the Vishaul Singh’s XI to a daunting first day total of 311-6 against the Leon Johnson XI in the final Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) organized 4-day practice match played at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence yesterday.
The West Indies Under-19 opener struck 11 fours and a six in his even 100 an innings which oozed maturity, confidence and aggression as he added 119 for the fourth wicket with Crandon who narrowly missed a century by three runs after accumulating 12 fours and one six in his brisk knock. At stumps, Singh’s XI looked ominous heading into the second day with left-hander Chandarpaul Hemraj (39*) and Ricardo Adams (0*) set to resume their innings.
Out-of-favor West Indies left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul picked up his second consecutive 5-wicket haul after ripping through the batting order, utilizing the sluggish Providence track to bamboozle his victims, ending with figures of 5-74 off 25 overs.
Part-time off-spinner Narsingh Deonarine, who went wicketless, was by far the best of the lot as he used flight, spin and varied pace to tie down the opposition batters while all-rounders Chris Barnwell who claimed the other wicket to fall, that of Hetmyer and the Guyana Jaguars lone overseas player Barbadian Raymon Reifer bowled well but were unable to make loud statements with the leather. Fast-bowler Keon Joseph maintained good pace but was uncharacteristically all over the place in terms of his accuracy.
Opener Kandasammy Surujnarine exhibited a mixture of aggression and passiveness as he caressed seven fours in his 44 adding 40 for the first wicket with fellow opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul (16).
The right-hander, who fell short of a well deserved half-century, was bowled by Permaul who also accounted for the wicket of the younger Chanderpaul, whom he had trapped LBW prior to the lunch break. Hetmyer, who scored a match-winning 51 in the last match, continued where he left off, building a small partnership of 63 with Surujnarine prior to the right-hander being removed by Permaul.
The skipper Singh who scored a century in the first match to lead his team to a come-from-behind win chasing 344 on the final day, failed to deliver and was dismissed in a relatively soft fashion after hitting Permaul for a four through mid-wicket.
Attempting a similar shot he, unfortunately, found the waiting hands of Gudakesh Motie-Kanhai who was well placed at short long-on.
At 113-3 the ex-West Indies ODI player Crandon came to the middle to forge a partnership with Hetmyer who had notched up another 50 with a huge six off Motie-Kanhai happily taking their team across the 150-run mark. The two Berbicians pressed on taking the score to 198-3 at tea with Hetmyer on 79 and Crandon one run short of a brisk half-century.
Immediately after the resumption of the match, Hetmyer crept into the 80’s with a vicious cut through point for four off Barnwell who favored bowling around the wicket and swinging the ball away from the left-hander. Though he later switched by coming around the wicket he received the same result from the Under-19 batsman who was well on course to his century.
Crandon joined in on the action in a more classy way as he reached his fifty off a single down the ground to accompany his six fours and one six and with the team’s 200 well up, the two set batters sought to pick apart the bowlers in an authoritative fashion. The big moment came when Hetmyer reached three figures with a swift single through mid-wicket off Deonarine, but Barnwell got his revenge when the temperamental left-hander attempted an expansive shot down the ground which didn’t have the legs to carry it over the boundary but had enough to fall safely in the hands of Deonarine at deep mid-on.
Crandon and new batsman Hemraj steadied things after the dismissal of the Hetmyer adding 74 with the latter before the former West Indies Test spinner managed to sneak one through the gates, comprehensively knocking over the right-hander who walked back towards the dressing room in dismay.
At 306-5 and nearing the close of play on day one, Vice-Captain Steven Jacobs (0) who scored a half-century last match became the fifth victim for the left-arm spinner after attempting a wild sweep shot and was out LBW leaving Adams and Hemraj to see out the day’s play.
