Opener Rajendra Chandrika cracked his maiden First Class ton yesterday for defending champs Guyana Jaguars who ended day one in a strong position of 287-4 against the Windward Islands Volcanoes in round one of the Professional Cricket League (PCL) Four-Day tournament at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The 26-year-old West Indies latest Test player broke his 33-match drought as he ended unbeaten on 140 from 310 balls the highest score by a Guyanese opener at Providence.
The right-hander’s innings spanned 360 minutes and was decorated with 21 crisp fours.
His partner, Barbadian Raymon Reifer is also unbeaten on 11 and will resume his innings with the century maker today.
In-form middle-order batsman Vishaul “Cheesy” Singh continued his purple patch, hitting seven fours in 48 while veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul was elegant during his 34.
Skipper Leon Johnson with a breezy 29, an innings in which he struck four fours and one six, was the other primary scorer. Discarded West Indies off-spinner Shane Shillingford collected 3-87 and was a handful during his spells.
Opting to bat first and leaving out opener Shimron Hetmyer and fast bowler Keon Joseph from their starting XI, openers Assad Fudadin (04) and Chandrika were tasked with laying a good foundation.
Chandrika opened his account with a drive through the off-side for four and followed up with back-to-back boundaries off the Volcanoes overseas Barbadian seamer, Kyle Mayers (1-44).
Fudadin never got going and fell in the sixth over when he chopped A delivery from Mayers onto his stumps as the Jaguars lost their first wicket at 27.
Chandrika and Johnson consolidated the innings after the early Loss. Both batsmen found the ropes a few times and the pair added 48 runs for the second wicket before Shillingford, who was hit for six by Johnson earlier, got the breakthrough when he produced a good delivery to induce an edge from the Jags skipper who was caught at first slip by Devon Smith.
Singh and Chandrika then formed another fruitful left/right batting combination.
The opener kept his composure up until the lunch break as he reached 50 off just 87 balls, with
seven boundaries and his partner on 23. The session after lunch saw the Guyanese pair going about their business freely, picking up the odd boundary while keeping the scoreboard ticking.
A dropped catch by Keddy Lesporis in the slip cordon off fast-bowler
Mervyn Mathew, gave Chandrika another life. After piling on 104 runs for the third wicket, Shillingford again broke another fruitful partnership when he had Singh trapped leg before wicket, two runs short of a half century.
Chanderpaul, who was with Chandrika when the opener was less than
15 runs away from his ton, managed to help steady the innings as they went into the tea break 206-3 with the opener on 91 and the elder Statesman on 13.
When the final session of play resumed Chandrika took a watchful approach as some of Chanderpaul’s temperament seemed to rub off on the junior partner who took his tally to 99 with a straight-drive off
Mayers which disturbed the non-striker’s stump and sped towards the boundary for four.
Chandrika’s milestone came the next ball as he scampered for a few runs, before smiles decorated his face as he celebrated his landmark which took some 217 balls and included 15 fours. After a subtle period of cricket, Shillingford got the big wicket of Chanderpaul and broke the 80-run partnership when the seasoned left-hander fell similar in fashion to that of Johnson, caught in slip by Smith, leaving the Jags 259 for 4 as stumps approached.
Scoreboard
Guyana Jaguars first innings
A Fudadin b Mayers 04
R Chandrika not out 140
L Johnson c Smith b Shillingford 29
V Singh lbw b Shillingford 48
S Chanderpaul c Smith b Shillingford 34
R Reifer not out 11
Extras: (nb-2, w-3, lb-4, b-4) 13
Total: (four wickets; 94 overs) 287
Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-75, 3-179, 4-259
Bowling: Matthew 11-6-18-0, Mayers 12-4-44-1, Peters 13-3-36-0, Shillingford 31-8-87-3 Sebastien 18-3-46-0, Polius 9-1-36-0
