TT in trouble at Guaracara

DESPITE a brilliant 115 from Ricardo Powell, Trinidad and Tobago still fell short of Barbados first innings total  of 285, reaching 265 all out on the second day of their final round Carib Beer Series match at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre, yesterday.

Scores: BARBADOS 285 and 138 for three wickets. TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 265. After claiming a narrow 20-run lead, Barbados batting a second time recovered from 71 for three to close the day’s play on 138 without further loss, an overall lead of 158 runs with two days left. The local bowlers struck back almost immediately, removing Barbadian opener Martin Nurse for eight with the score on 11. Sherwin Campbell and Kurt Wilkinson then steadied the innings and took the score to 55 before spin twins Amit Jaggernauth and Dave Mohammed struck. Mohammed trapped Campbell leg before for 31, and Jaggernauth had Floyd Reifer (6) caught by Sherwin Ganga. But any hopes Trinidad and Tobago had of bowling out the Barbadians cheaply were killed off by Wilkinson and the impressive Ryan Hinds. Hinds thrilled the huge crowd with an array of brilliant strokes, and was unbeaten on 40 at the close. Wilkinson also batted well and he too was in sight of a half-century on 48.

Earlier Ricardo Powell, addressed the West Indies selectors with an impressive innings for a Test place in the forthcoming Cable & Wireless series against England. He batted brilliantly, and without his second regional hundred, Trinidad and Tobago would have suffered a larger deficit. After the early loss of night-watchman Riyad Emrit for 14 to Tino Best, Powell and classy opener Sherwin Ganga set the Park ablaze. Both batsmen were blasted away at seven runs an over as Trinidad and Tobago looked certain for a huge first innings lead. They propelled the score to 126 before Ganga fell leg before to Pedro Collins for 56. He faced only 59 balls and struck eight fours. Following Ganga’s (S) demise, however, there was a regular procession of TT batsmen to and from the pavilion. But Powell gave the fans hope amid the destructive as left-arm spin of  Hinds who snared four wickets.

Powell saw the fall of Dwayne Bravo for 12, Aneil Kanhai for 14 and the “big Flying Fish” Brian Lara for 11. The West Indies captain on whom much depended, was trapped leg before by pacer Corey Collymore for only 11. Powell meantime was batting like a man possessed, banging 14 fours and four sixes in his 113-ball innings which lasted 209 minutes. But after he was seventh out with the score on 244, the innings folded meekly. Fidel Edwards wrapped up the tail capturing the final two wickets to finish with two for 43, while Hinds’ four wickets cost just 51 runs. Pedro Collins chipped in with two for 77. Play on the third day today begins at 10 am.