Guyana 129/3 on rain-hit first day

The Guyanese batting first after winning the toss, crawled to 129 runs for three wickets in 52 overs on a day which featured two rain delays, shortly before the lunch and tea intervals.

Left-handed batsman Sewnarine Chattergoon who played four Tests for the Windies was unbeaten on 52 while fellow opener Christopher Barnwell contributed 30.

Pacers Atiba Allert and 25-year-old debutant all-rounder Navin Stewart took one wicket apiece, while Stewart played a part in the run out of another Windies discard, left-hander Narsingh Deonarine, moments before the second rain stoppage.

The right-handed Barnwell blazed six fours in his knock before he was caught by Jason Mohammed off Allert to end a first wicket stand of 55, but the showers halted play with the visitors going into lunch at 62 for one.

Another left-hander, Leon Johnson who toured New Zealand with the regional Test team late last year, was unable to get a measure of the slow wicket and heavy outfield and edged Stewart to wicketkeeper Gibran Mohammed.

Deonarine’s short stay ended when he failed to beat Stewart’s throw to the keeper from long off, with the subsequent showers forcing the players back into the pavilion for two hours and 10 minutes. When play resumed, in front of a virtually empty venue, the 27-year-old Chattergoon brought up his half-century with a square cut, for three, off Sherwin Ganga’s off-spin.

The pint-sized opener will resume this morning with his captain Travis Dowlin, who is undefeated on 14.

Trinidad and Tobago, fifth in the seven-team points standings with 51 points, made two changes to their side that drew with the Windward Islands last weekend, bringing in Stewart and Rayad Emrit for West Indies pacer Ravi Rampaul and left-arm spinner Magnum Nanan, while another all-rounder Daron Cruickshank was the 12th man.

And Guyana, in cellar spot with 24 points and without a win this season, replaced batsman Gajanand Singh with spinner Davindra Bishoo.

OVAL SCOREBOARD

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO vs GUYANA

Guyana 1st innis

S Chattergoon not out 52

C Barnwell c J Mohammed b Allert 30

L Johnson c G Mohammed b Stewart 13

N Deonarine run out 12

T Dowlin not out 14

EXTRAS (NB4, W3) 7

Total for three wickets 129

Fall of wickets: 55; 88; 104.

TO BAT: Assad Fudadin, Steven Jacobs, Derwin Christian, Davindra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Brandon Bess.

BOWLING: Emrit 20-7-49-0 (W1); Stewart 8-0-29-1 (W1); Allert 11-3-26-1 (NB4, W1); S Ganga 10-4-16-0; Jaggernauth 2-0-7-0.