Babwah century saves the day

Clico Preysal captain Shazam Babwah yesterday hit his maiden First-Class hundred and saved Trinidad and Tobago from embarrassment against Kenya on the opening day of  the third round Carib Beer Series regional cricket clash at Shaw Park in Tobago. SCORES: TT 221/9 vs Kenya.

Trinidad and Tobago slipped to 27 for three  after opting to bat against a Kenyan attack that lacked the killer instinct. The good crowd on hand at the Park were in disbelief as there was a steady procession of TT batsmen from the middle to the pavilion. The local hope rested squarely on the shoulders of Dwayne Bravo and Shazam Babwah and they delivered the goods for the sister isle fans. Bravo, a bit circumspect at the start, blossomed into some beautifully manufactured strokes much to the delight of the crowd. Together Babwah and Bravo posted 142 runs for the third wicket. This after skipper Imran Jan (0), Earnil Ryan (2) and Aneil Kanhai (14) all fell cheaply. Bravo in the process of the century partnership, brought up his half century in 150 minutes off 102 balls with three fours. Babwah soon followed getting to his mark in 114 minutes off 96 balls with eight delightfully struck fours.

The duo had the fans on their feet and things were looking pretty for TT at 163 for two. However Peter Ongondo, who captured two of the three wickets to fall earlier in the day, returned to grab two wickets to reduce the hosts to 163 for five. Bravo with a second century of the series looming, struck Ongondo beautifully through mid-off for four and in trying to repeat the shot over mid-on he was beautifully caught one handed by  Brijal Patel for 69.  His innings lasted 180 minutes, faced 125 balls and struck six fours. In the same over Ongondo struck again removing Kenton Thompson for a third ball duck. Thompson also failed to score in his maiden innings against the West Indies “B” last week. Suddenly Trinidad and Tobago were in trouble at 163 for five and it took a mini-partnership of 41 runs between wicket keeper Gibran Mohammed and Babwah to rescue the cause.

Babwah, who batted magnificently, brought up his hundred off 199 balls in 257 minutes with 11 fours and one six. Soon after the celebrations Kenya struck, by removing the stubborn Mohammed for 12. For the addition of one run, TT lost another wicket when Riyad Emrit was run out without troubling scorer Rohit Balkisoon. The carnage didn’t end there, as the next scalp with the big one —- Babwah. He fell to the bowling off Maurice Odumbe for 100 with the score still 205. Before the close TT lost Amit Jaggernauth for 12 to close on 221 for nine. Manager Omar Khan said that although the pitch was not the best for batting, most the players didn’t apply themselves to the task at hand. “We needed the players to use Shazam as an example and go on to bigger innings. However having said that, we still have runs on the board and we are going to fight with the ball today.” Play on the second day today begins at 10 am.