TT surrender 1st inns points

Jamaica’s resolute middle-order batting secured first innings points after the second day of their Carib Beer Series regional cricket match against Trinidad and Tobago at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain.

Scores: TT 218 vs JAMAICA 285/6.

Sharing the honours on the day was all-rounder Dave “Tadpole” Mohammed who bowled his heart out for TT to finish with the impressive figures of four wickets for 63 runs in Jamaica’s reply which left them in command. After capturing the last TT wicket for the addition of just four runs to the overnight score of 214, the Jamaicans, led by skipper Robert Samuels (40) and all-rounder Gareth Breese (81 no) gave their side a lead of 67 runs with two days remaining. TT lost their last wicket, that of Mohammed, for 32 to Jerome Taylor in the first over of the day and from there it was all downhill for the hosts. When the Jamaicans began their reply they got off to a tremendous start. They raced to 46 by the eighth over when Theodore Modeste in his first match of the season removed Brenton Parchment for a boundary-studded 25.

Fellow opener Leon Garrick played some handsome strokes which lit up a very dull day at the Oval with only a scattering of spectators on hand to appreciate his artistry. In partnership with David Bernard Jnr, they pushed the score along nicely to 88 before skipper Daren Ganga brought in the highly rated Mohammed. Bowling left-arm back of the hand spin, the PowerGen player removed Bernard caught and bowled for 18 and quickly followed up with the wicket of Maurice Kepple for 13. The score at that stage stood at 129/4 and at that point no one could have blamed the locals for entertaining thoughts of  first innings points. Their fielding however let them down badly with Samuels the benefactor of  two dropped catches. The left-hander was given a reprieve in the slips with his score on 19 and again at 24 with his team’s total at 150/4. TT paid dearly for this slip-up as the southpaw batted responsibly for his 40 in a partnership off 112 with Breese. His vigil ended when “the man with the golden arm” Mohammed bowled him for 40.

In the meantime, Breese was in his element and quickly brought up his half-century with the help of eight fours. Keith Hibbert joined Breese and never looked comfortable against the top quality spin of Mohammed. His short stay at the crease ended with his score at 12 as Mohammed had him leg before wicket. At 245/5 TT encountered Nehemiah Perry who added 40 runs for the seventh wicket with Breese to take Jamaica to the close. Perry is unbeaten on 29 and the impressive Breese was undefeated on a whirlwind 81. Manager of the Trinidad and Tobago team Omar Khan said his team would have to up their game tremendously if they are to get back into this one. “I have stressed that they need to get into the final four and to get there they must focus on their work at hand. So far I have not seen that in this match but I am confident that the boys can come through. This match is far from over,” he said.