Chris Barnwell (59*), Skipper Assad Fudadin (39) and Raymond Reifer (24*) all batted well at Bourda yesterday on the first day of a three-day simulation match for the Guyana team preparing for the 2015/2016 WICB’s Professional Cricket League (PCL) Four-Day First Class Franchise which starts on November 6.
Fudadin’s X1 batted first in hot conditions and were 157-4 from 47 overs when play ended after two sessions. West Indies Under-19 opener Taignarine Chanderpaul, who has been in good form for Everest at the first division level, was the first to go when he was caught and bowled by seamer Paul Wintz, pushing forward to one that beat him for lack of pace.
National Under-19 player Tevin Imlach (15) fell to leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, who along with Rajendra Chandrika will leave the Caribbean next month for the West Indies’s two-Test series which starts on November 14 in Sri Lanka.
Fudadin accelerated after a careful start against the pacers and was especially severe on off-spinner Steven Jacobs. Fudadin, one of six players with Test experience in the local squad, pounced on Jacobs and hammered him for three fours, before clearing the boundary twice with ease.
Jacobs, who eventually dismissed Fudadin, failed to find the right pace to bowl on the slow track and struggled to contain the left-hander whose entertaining 39 was decorated with four fours and two sixes.
Shiv Chanderpaul, the most capped West Indian Test player danced into left-arm spinner Anthony Adams and lofted him for four before the experienced 41-year-old, with 11,867 Test runs and 30 centuries to his name was befuddled by a flipper from left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and edged a catch to Robin Bacchus at slip at the end of the first session.
Barnwell joined the patient Reifer and together they added 70 in an unfinished fourth wicket stand with the pugnacious Barnwell, continuing to bat with a profusion of confidence at the local level; playing several audacious shots to dominate the stand on the quick outfield.
While Barnwell played aggressively, Reifer supported with sound defense as the partnership flourished. The pair will hope to build on their stand when the match continues today.
(Taken from Kaieteur News)