Captain Robin Bacchus struck a well composed 55, while Anthony Bramble made 67 not out on day two of the Guyana Jaguars’ three-day practice at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC), Bourda, on Wednesday.
In response to Vishaul Singh’s XI imposing 383 all out, Robin Bacchus’ XI closed the penultimate day on 115-4.
Bacchus and Kandasammy Surjnarine of Bacchus’ XI entered the crease in overcast conditions just before lunch and faced little trouble from fast bowlers Keon Joseph and Romario Shepherd on a wicket, which seemed to be extremely flat.
The pair batted firmly and took the score to 60 without loss at tea with Bacchus on 44 and Surujnarine on 13.
However, just as the two were looking to become more expansive, left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul got the breakthrough, virtue of a good low catch by Tagenarine Chanderpaul at short-leg as Surujnarine failed to add to his tea time score.
Permaul seemed to be getting into a good rhythm as he then tied down the fluent Bacchus, who survived a few close chances.
In fact, the left-handed batsman was dropped at first slip by Assad Fudadin off the same bowler, but showed his resilience as he spent close to an hour at the crease since tea to score six runs, which brought up his half-century off 103 balls and was inclusive of eight fours.
Bacchus, who is a Guyana Cricket Inc. (GCI) Academy player, would no doubt rue a great opportunity to accumulate a big score, since he spent 193 minutes at the crease and faced 122 balls before falling leg before to Permaul for 55.
Chanderpaul Hemraj took little time to get settled, as he played an elegant cover drive off Permaul which neatly bisected the mid-off and extra-cover fielders. It was not long after he got to the pitch of a delivery from left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, which he lifted into the top tier of the Rohan Kanhai stand for six.
Gajanand Singh (04), who nearly gave a return catch to Motie, lost his wicket two balls later when he lobbed the ball in the air to be taken at short-leg.
Hemraj continued to look in total control when he rocked back to a short ball from Motie to hit in the pavilion for another six. Two overs after, Hemraj again played a beautiful square cut off Permaul, which sped to boundary.
Jonathon Foo was new to the crease and fell for (01), caught at short leg by Kevon Boodie to leave the score at 112-4 when nightwatchman Devendra Bishoo (02*) came and Hemraj (37 not out) took the score to 115-4. Permaul and Motie have picked up 2-36 and 2-29 respectively.
Earlier, Vishaul Singh’s XI, resuming on 280-6, with Bramble on 12 and Permaul on two, took the score to 336-7 when Permaul was bowled by Bishoo for 29.
Bramble, the wicketkeeper/batsman, batted sensibly with the tail to end on 67 not out, which helped his side to 383 all out.
Leg-spinner Bishoo ended with 3-90 from 26 overs; Foo supported with 3-44, while Paul Wintz picked up 2-33. Today is the final day.
(Taken from Guyana Times)