TWO FORMER skippers in Christopher Barnwell and Veerasammy Permaul cashed in on the runs feast that was being served by Trinidad and Tobago Red Force yesterday, as Guyana Jaguars tightened their grip on their fourth round West Indies Cricket Board/Professional Cricket League four-day match at the Queen’s Park Oval yesterday.
Scores to date: T&T Red Force 198 & 58 for 4, Guyana Jaguars 492 for 8 decl.
The Jaguars resumed play yesterday with skipper Vishaul ‘Cheesy’ Singh on 115 and Devendra Bishoo yet to score, while their total read 300 for 5. They progressed to 492 for 8 and declared at 14:00hrs, with Barnwell unbeaten on 65 and Permaul 50, the duo adding 112 for the ninth wicket.
This was a new record by the Guyanese pair against the Twin Island Republic team, eclipsing the 108 for the same wicket made by Bishoo and Narsingh Deonarine at the Guyana National Stadium six years ago, leading their side to a 294-run lead.
At lunch, Guyana Jaguars were 413 for 8 off 133 overs, scoring 113 runs from the 32 overs bowled by the Red Force in the session for the loss of Bishoo, caught at deep extra cover by Akeil Hosein off Jason Mohammed for 27, having added 62 for the sixth wicket with Singh who followed next.
Lapsing in concentration, the Guyanese skipper was brilliantly stumped by Nicholas Pooran off Mohammed for 141 (312 mins, 227 balls, 17×4) at 360 for 7, while the third wicket was that of Anthony Bramble, who was caught by Daniel St Clair at deep midwicket off Mohammed for 13.
The 27-year-old Barnwell was on 33 and Permaul, who steered the final delivery from Hosein before the break to third man for four, on 15 and after the break, Barnwell steered a loose delivery from St Clair to third man for four and got his 1 000th first class run with his sixth four off Hosein.
Like Singh, Chandrika and Reifer before him, Barnwell posted the fourth half-century in the Jaguars’ innings and his fifth overall, from 62 balls faced while batting for 69 minutes, hitting six fours and clearing the ropes once, as his team progressed to 438, a lead of 240.
A six from Permaul over midwicket off Marlon Richards pushed the Jaguars to 488 while one run later, he posted a new ninth-wicket partnership with Barnwell, eclipsing the 108 between Bishoo and Narsingh Deonarine against the same team at the Guyana National Stadium, six years ago.
When the 25-year-old Permaul got his 50 off 72 balls with three fours and one six at 14:00hrs, Singh brought the proceedings to a close by making the declaration with Barnwell unbeaten on 65 (6×4, 1×6) off 108 balls – the duo adding a record 112 for the ninth wicket.
Rain stopped play for 89 minutes after one ball was bowled in the home team’s second innings, but when the action continued, Ronsford Beaton produced a stunner to account for Lendl Simmons 10 (1×4) while Reifer held one from Yannick Ottley (0) that rebounded from Bramble’s gloves at second slip, leaving the home team on 12 for 2.
A beautiful catch on his follow-through by Reifer, accounted for Evin Lewis (3) two runs later at 14 for 3, but resistance from Yannich Cariah and Mohammed, which included a pulled four through mid-wicket off Barnwell, pushed the Red Force to 40 for 3, needing 254 more to avoid an innings defeat.
They got to 50 off 15 overs, with Cariah 21 and Mohammed 16, but lost Mohammed soon after, caught at extra cover by Singh off Permaul, who was struck for two fours by St Clair, before bad light stopped play at 17:23hrs with Red Force 58 for 4, needing 236 more to avoid an innings defeat.
