Murray (91) props up Windwards

JUNIOR MURRAY and his Windward Islands colleagues yesterday thrived against the unpenetrative bowling by the Trinidad and Tobago’s bowlers and raced to a comfortable 291 for seven wickets at the close of play on the opening day of the Carib Beer Cricket Series seventh round match at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre. The day’s honours belonged to the Windwards but moreso to Murray who played a masterful hand before TT’s most successful bowler Richard Kelly bowled him nine runs short of the century mark. It was the former Test player’s fourth half-century of the season and he became the ninth batsman to cross 300 runs for the season.

It was Murray’s highest for this year’s competition and with it he became the third highest run-getter in West Indies First Class competition. The Grenadian started the season on 4,222 runs and playing in his 78th regional First Class matches took his overall regional tally to 4,532 runs in 142 innings. Murray’s invaluable knock was studded with fourteen fours off 148 balls. And he shared in three significant partnerships which carried Windwards from 126 for four to 282 for seven. Kelly shattered the stumps, much to the delight of all the Trinidadian players and the thousand-odd faithful supporters who watched 39 fours and two sixes scored off the TT’s bowlers for the day.

It was agonising stuff for the diehards as Murray posted 46 for the fifth wicket with Darren Sammy (35), 44 for the sixth wicket partnership with skipper Rawl Lewis (14) and the day’s highest partnership worth 58 for the seventh wicket with left-handed Deighton Butler who remained undefeated on an attractive 35. Butler played with consummate ease and authority and smashed Dillon, Emrit and Lendl Simmons for seven scintillating boundaries. The stout-hearted Kelly was Trinidad and Tobago’s most successful bowler and finished with three for 40 from 14 overs. The right-arm medium pacer advanced his season’s tally to 21 for the season.

TT’s skipper Daren Ganga won the toss and asked Windwards to take first strike on a pitch which appeared to contain some moisture. The decision seemed to have been the right when the tireless Kelly forced Craig Emmanuel to top-edge a straight forward catch to Ricardo Powell stationed in the gully. The score was ten and the ambitious Emmanuel departed for seven. But the patient Devon Smith found a useful partner in Sergio Feedee and together the defied Mervyn Dillon, offspinner Amit Jaggernauth and medium pacer Rayad Emrit for exactly an hour and added 44 runs for the second wicket partnership. Windwards progressed to 82 for two wickets off 29 overs at lunch with Smith unbeaten on 41 and debutant Alvin La Fuille on 16.

Kelly was the man for the occasion again and he picked up the prized wicket of Smith with 21 more runs added to the total but Smith getting only two more to his personal score. Amit Jaggernauth accepted the catch at gully and the Grenadian batted for 163 minutes, faced 114 balls and struck five fours in his subdued knock. Jaggernauth got his first and only wicket when he removed LaFuille caught inside the boundary line by Emrit and the score 126 for four wickets. WI youth spinner Bachan, in his second match, was TT’s most economical bowler and went unrewarded with an analysis of 20-8-30-0. The match continues today from 10 am.