TT in command at Guaracara

After being dismissed for 255, the hosts had the Islanders reeling at 37 runs for four wickets after a topsy-turvy day, in front of an appreciative crowd estimated at 2,000.

The 19-year-old Jason Mohammed, the national youth captain and West Indies Under-19 deputy, teamed up with Kelly and later Amit Jaggernauth to lift TT from the depths of 42 for five midway in the first session to 255.

Then Kelly and Dave “Tadpole” Mohammed snapped up two wickets apiece to complete a fantastic turnaround for the recently crowned Carib Beer Series champions.

The Windwards contributed to their own peril with a dismal fielding display, inclusive of five dropped catches and countless moments where the ball went through the hands, and bodies, of the outfielders, followed with a careless batting approach in the latter stages of the day.

It looked so different early on the day, as Trinidad and Tobago lost the top half of their batting line-up in a flash.

The Ganga brothers — Sherwin and Daren — edging the persevering West Indies left-arm pacer Deighton Butler to the evergreen Junior Murray behind the wicket when the score was 11. Sherwin was grabbed one handed by the diving 38-year-old ex-WI wicketkeeper while Daren (who chose to bat after winning the toss), went first ball to a non-descript shot.

Dwayne Bravo’s disastrous regional season continued when he was run out for duck, this time unluckily as fast bowler Jean Paul, despite failing to hold on to Lendl Simmons’ stinging straight-driven catch, diverted the ball onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end.

Simmons, who was caught behind off a Butler no-ball in the day’s first delivery, tamely edged Paul to Devon Smith at first slip, one ball after Smith dropped Jason Mohammed off Butler when the diminutive right hander was on 19.

Denesh Ramdin lasted two balls before parrying a rising ball from Paul to Murray, but Jason Mohammed, after a nervous start, and the heavy-set Kelly responded with an array of boundaries during a valuable sixth-wicket stand of 124 in 138 minutes.

The left-handed Kelly lashed ten fours in his 83-ball knock of 58, mainly through the packed off-side field, before driving a slower ball from Darren Sammy to Windwards’ captain Rawl Lewis at cover.

That dismissal sparked another flurry of wickets, as Rayad Emrit edged Sammy to Lewis in the slips, Mervyn Dillon guided left-arm spinner Dennis George to Sammy at slip and Dave Mohammed needlessly slashed a wide George delivery to Liam Sebastien at cover.

With the last man Jaggernauth arriving at the crease, and the score at 171 for nine, Jason Mohammed notched a series of boundaries, as well as a huge swept six off George, to reach his century in only his second First-Class match, courtesy of a square-cut four off Sammy.

Jaggernauth showed no inclination to defend his wicket as he indulged in a series of timely blows, racing to 33 before losing his off-stump, padding up to a Lewis’ leg-break, leaving Jason Mohammed unbeaten on 124, an innings spanning four hours and 40 minutes, off 221 deliveries, and featuring 14 fours and a six.

While he showed a liking for the square cut and the aerial on-drive, he was missed twice during the lunch-tea session, by George who juggled, but dropped a return catch (50) and by Craig Emmanuel, who embarrassingly missed a skied on-drive at mid-on (97), while Lewis failed to hold on to a powerful drive by Kelly, off Sammy, when the left-hander was on 54.

With 16 overs remaining in the day, Kelly quickly removing Currency, leg-before playing across the line, and Emmanuel who allowed a straight delivery to go between bat and pad and knock his off-bail.

Dave Mohammed then tilted the balance firmly in TT’s favour as he had Murray caught by Simmons at silly-point for a duck and Devon Smith, a compulsive off-side batsman, to slash a wide delivery to Ramdin.