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Violence of any form is abhorrent but unfortunately it has become a serious problem on a global scale despite significant efforts to roll it back. This is not surprising as it is one of the most complex issues to tackle because of its myriad causes.
JAMAICA reached 149-3 after rain stalled play for about two hours and forty minutes after lunch on the first day of the sixth round WICB regional four-day encounter against Guyana at the Guyana National Stadium yesterday.
Jamaica, currently in the lead with 42 points, won the toss and took first strike on the placid stadium pitch and cruised to 93-2 on the stroke of lunch when the rains came.
The first wicket to fall was that of out-of-form West Indian batsman Xavier Marshall for 12 (13.4) when he was caught at mid-off by Homchand Pooran off the bowling Narsingh Deonarine.
Marshall stroked two boundaries in his 37-ball innings that lasted 58 minutes.
The explosive batsman played the supporting role in the 44-run opening partnership with Brenton Parchment who was timing the ball sweetly and who seemed destined to make his half-century in the first hour of play.
However, the Guyanese bowlers had other ideas and he succumbed to Guyana’s most successful bowler this year in the competition, Davendra Bishoo who has 18 wickets. Bishoo had him caught behind by wicketkeeper Derwin Christian, trying to play forward when the score was 72 (25 overs).
In his brief cameo that came from 84 balls, Parchment scored 44 runs consisting of seven elegant boundaries in 95 minutes.
Captain Tamar Lambert, who has had a horrid tournament, joined Donovan Pagon at the crease and from the outset he looked as if he was looking for a huge score as he was playing purposefully.
He hoisted off-spinner Zaheer Mohamed for a huge six over long-off but not before he had caressed the two spinners, Mohamed and Bishoo, who were operating before lunch, through the off side to pick up singles, doubles and a three inside the extra cover boundary.
At this time Pagon was satisfied with picking up the singles to turn over the strike as the spinners stemmed the free flow of runs from the Jamaican batsmen before lunch.
At the lunch break Deonarine had figures of 7-4-10-1, Bishoo 9-4-16-1 and Mohamed 6-1-18-0. Pacers Esaun Crandon and Brandon Bess, after their opening spell and who did not bowl thereafter, had figures of 8-325-0 and 4-0-24-0.
The match, resuming at 15:40 h, saw Pagon and Lambert continue on 19 and 14 respectively until Lambert was trapped lbw by off-spinner Deonarine five runs later for 19 while the score read 102-3.
The number three batsman was joined by in-form batsman Wavell Hinds who signalled his intentions early in his innings.
Hinds played some audacious shots at the beginning of his innings but none more brazen than when he lifted Deonarine for a towering six over wide long-off, off the fifth ball of his 13th over, then an effortless six over extra cover off the last ball of his 14th over.
This prompted Guyana captain Travis Dowlin to end Deonarine’s spell of seven overs.
After his two spells he finished with figures of 14-6-25-2. The spin twins continued without much success as the Jamaicans scored quite freely.
At this time, spinner Mohamed’s bowling became quite ordinary as he bled more runs than Bishoo who troubled Pagon especially for the remainder of the afternoon play.
After 33 overs in the afternoon session (67 overs for the day), umpires Wycliffe Micham and Clyde Duncan offered the batsmen the light and they took it at 17:18 h with the score on 149-3.
Hinds was not out on 31 (2×6, 3×4) from 79 balls in 76 minutes. Pagon, on the other hand, was left on 39 not out from 157 balls, after spending 156 minutes at the crease.
