Deonarine in sight of 10th first class ton as Jaguars and Leewards battle

FORMER West Indies middle-order batsman Narsingh Deonarine was 27 runs away from his 10th first class ton at the end of the first day of the first round clash between Guyana Jaguars and Leeward Islands Franchise at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence yesterday.

Winning the toss and opting to bat first in the West Indies Cricket Board/Professional Cricket League (PCL) 4-day first round fixture after a 15-minute rain delay, the Jaguars reached 230 for 5 off 90 overs, with Deonarine batting for 246 minutes, hitting eight fours from the 191 deliveries he faced.
With Deonarine all-rounder is Christopher Barnwell who was on 24, which included four well-timed fours, while 40-year-old dependable middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul had earlier contributed 45, as he added 83 for the fourth wicket with Deonarine. Gavin Tonge has so far taken 2 for 39.
The Jaguars reached 53 for the loss of Assad Fudadin’s wicket at lunch, with Rajendra Chandrika on 30 and skipper Leon Johnson, who took 23 deliveries to open his account and did so with a glorious extra cover drive for four off Kelbert Walters, on 17, in the face of disciplined bowling from the opposition.
When the action got under way, both Fudadin and Chandrika got boundaries off the new ball pair of Tonge and Kelbert Walters, before Fudadin was lbw to Orlando Peters (1 for 31) for 6 at 14 for 1 in the 8th over.
Johnson survived a testing spell from Tonge and company and even a chance off Walters, after hitting him for four to open his account, but saw the demise of Chandrika who lost his balance and was run-out by Devon Thomas for 31 (4×4) at 62 for 2.
Deonarine joined Johnson and together they looked positive and compact at the wicket, until Johnson, who struck Yannick Leonard for two fours in the first over after lunch, was caught at the wicket off Tonge, who was brought back into the attack by his skipper.
Out strolled Chanderpaul who eased Leonard through extra cover with the grace and poise of a batsman who was intent on reminding the sprinkling of spectators at the venue, that he has 150-odd Test matches under his belt, followed by two authoritative fours off Martin, who had bowled five consecutive maiden overs to keep the left-handed pair intact.
Deonarine posted his 43rd first class half-century from 100 deliveries with seven fours, three of which were crisp drives through the cover region, before Chanderpaul was dismissed, caught at the wicket by Thomas off Jacques Taylor who was extracting bounce and turn out of the track.
Chanderpaul’s 45 spanned 128 minutes during which time he faced 106 deliveries and struck three fours and his wicket was followed by that of Raymon Reifer, who was lbw to Tonge for 18 that also included three fours, all off Taylor, leaving the Jaguars on 199 for 5 in the 81st over.
Leeward Islands took the second new ball shortly after and instead of bringing them success, it brought pain as Barnwell, with the power and timings he is known for when batting for Demerara Cricket Club, cracked one through point for his second four, a shot that left the opposition in a trance as no man moved, save to retrieve the red cherry.
Two more fours were reeled off the sponsor-less bat of Barnwell off Tonge with the second new ball, before the day’s play was brought to a close under the artificial lights which came on just before 17:00hrs, even as Guyana gathered their first batting points and are 20 runs away from gaining another when play resumes at 10:00hrs today.

SCORECARD
GUYANA Jaguars 1st innings
R. Chandrika run-out (Thomas) 31
A. Fudadin lbw b Peters 6
L. Johnson c wkp. Thomas b Tonge 31
N. Deonarine not out 73
S. Chanderpaul c wkp. Thomas b Taylor 45
R. Reifer lbw b Tonge 18
C. Barnwell not out 24
Extras: (lb-1, nb-1) 2
Total: (for 5 wickets, off 90 overs) 230
Fall of wicket: 1-14, 2-62, 3-86, 4-169, 5-199.
Bowling: Tonge 15-5-39-2, Walters 13-1-31-0, Peters 12-0-31-1, Leonard 11-2-43-0, Taylor 20-3-53-1 (nb-1), Martin 19-9-32-0.

(By Calvin Roberts)