BASSETERRE, St Kitts CMC – Number 11 Kishawn Graham saw out the last four balls of a tense final day to stave off defeat for Jamaica and frustrate Trinidad and Tobago’s victory bid, in their drama-filled third round encounter of the Regional Under-19 Championship here Thursday.
Chasing 131 for victory at Molineaux, Jamaica appeared well set at 39 for one before losing eight wickets for just 52 runs to collapse to 91 for nine.
When David Bird’s 20-ball vigil over two ended in the day’s final over, T&T scented victory but Graham arrived to block the last four deliveries and earn Jamaica a share of the honours. First innings century-maker Raewin Senior top-scored with 32 and Andre McCarty got 28, but no other batsman reached double figures.
The collapse was engineered by off-spinner Aaron Maniram who picked up four for 31 while left-arm spinner Justyn Gangoo finished with three for 30.
Earlier, there was no indication of the drama that would ensue when T&T converted their overnight 95 for two into 228 all out in their second innings.
Christian Thurton top-scored with 66, Leonardo Julien hit 54 on Wednesday’s second day while Sachin Seecharan added just four to his overnight 34.
New-ball bowler McCarty (4-36) and off-spinner Brad Barnes (4-48) finished with four wickets apiece.
Seecharan fell early in the day with just six runs added but Thurton dug in to ensure T&T made the most of the innings.
He put on 45 for the fourth wicket with Saiba Batoosingh (21), added a further 27 for the fifth with Joshua James (14) and then a crucial 39 for the eighth wicket with Maniram (14).
All told, Thurton struck seven fours in an innings lasting 179 balls and 3-3/4 hours before he was eighth out in a slide that saw the last three wickets fall for four runs.
