Lara, Ganga lead TT fightback

In his first competitive match since November’s West Indies tour of Australia, Lara capitalised on a dropped catch when on two, to compile an unbeaten 60 off 114 balls including seven fours, while TT captain Ganga (D) was 45 not out scored off 116 balls, with five fours, before they accepted the offer of poor light from umpires Steve Malcolm and Terrence Birbal with 13.3 overs remaining.

Not even a ten-minute delay for drizzle could stop the pair as they were untroubled against the Guyanese bowling quintet of pacers Reon King and Esaun Crandon, off-spinners Narsingh Deonarine, left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell and leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo.

With TT in dire straits on 29 for two, Lara flashed at a Crandon delivery, got an edge but wicketkeeper Derwin Christian diving low to his left, failed to hang on.

The 36-year-old triple Test record holder would not offer a semblance of a chance thereafter, as he strolled to his half-century with a shot to fine leg off Nagamootoo.

When stumps were drawn, the pair were together for 148 minutes and both seemed set on big scores today, in pursuit of Guyana’s 346.

The combination of pacer Rayad Emrit and leg-spinner Sanjiv Gooljar ripped through the lower half of the Guyanese batting as they lost their last five wickets for 37 runs.

The overnight pair of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Travis Dowlin progressed from 257 for four to 277 before Sarwan lost his leg-stump to a persevering Richard Kelly for 122 in 274 minutes off 218 balls and including 16 fours. Sarwan’s crucial fifth-wicket stand with Dowlin was worth 108.

Dowlin soldiered on, reaching his half-century with a straight-driven boundary off Kelly, but attempting a similar shot with his score on 53, he gave Gooljar low return catch. Christian rode his luck against Dwayne Bravo, hitting the medium pacer a number of lusty blows, before he was trapped leg-before by Gooljar for 31 attempting an massive sweep.

Nagamootoo perished swiftly, out on the stroke of lunch, when he guided an Emrit delivery low to wicketkeeper Ramdin without scoring. Five balls on the resumption, the Emrit-Ramdin tandem combined to dismiss Crandon for two. Despite a 35-minute rain delay, Emrit got the last scalp of McGarrell for 16, trapped plumb in front. Reflecting on the work of the national bowlers, Ganga (D) stated: "it was a great effort on the part of the guys.

"We had a really thorough team meeting (on Friday) and knew exactly what we wanted to do with the new ball," he continued. "And the guys came out, Kelly, Emrit, Bravo and they executed well. I think we put the ball in the right areas and we created pressure on the Guyanese batsmen and it paid dividends in terms of shutting them for (346)."

Concerning his 111-run stand with Lara, the TT captain said: "Brian really played well.

"He’s a champion player and it’s really nice to have him put in that sort of effort into this game actually," Ganga (D) added. "It’s going to be tough work. We’ve just started doing it. We’ve got a total of (346) to overhaul and we’re 126 for two. We’re going to take that responsibility."

"We’re not going to let anybody else shoulder that responsibility, myself and Brian, what’s important for us is to come (today), ensure that in the first hour we get ourselves set, lay the foundation for a good day for Trinidad and Tobago," he ended.