– veteran left-hander crafts even 100 on first day

AT age 42, veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul drew on every ounce of his experience and defied a strong Barbados Pride bowling attack with a tenacious, even hundred to lead the Guyana Jaguars to 311 all out on the first day of the Day/Night fourth-round Regional Four-Day Championship fixture, at the Guyana National Stadium.

Watched by a handful of spectators, the obdurate left-hander frustrated the visitors with his awkward, crab-like stance and intense concentration to complete his 72nd first-class 100, an innings which showed him to be in a different class from his team-mates.
It all stemmed from Leon Johnson winning the toss, and opting to bat. The hosts omitted Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Eon Hooper from their 13, but after ending the first session on 99-3, Chanderpaul was his usual resourceful self, and took complete control after five wickets had tumbled around him.

Ably supported by Raymond Reifer and Gudakesh Motie, at the back end of the innings, it was once again left for the West Indies most capped Test player to rescue the Jaguars.
Chanderpaul added 85 for the sixth-wicket with Reifer, and 70 for the ninth-wicket with Motie, but when he was bowled by Kemar Roach just before the close, he had struck 13 fours from 141 balls in just over four hours of batting.
Earlier, when play began in bright sunshine, both openers, Rajendra Chandrika and Shimron Hetmyer got off the mark with classy boundaries off Justin Greaves, and despite being somewhat scratchy and nervous for the first half hour of play, the left and right-hand combination slowly thwarted the Barbadians for over an hour on a pitch that appeared even-paced.

The Barbadian fast bowlers bent their backs, but lacked a cutting edge at the start, allowing the Guyanese to build a 49-run opening stand.
The 19-year-old, Hetmyer was the more aggressive, unleashing several stylish shots, including sixes off pacer Kemar Roach and the off-spinner Royston Chase.
Chandrika, the discarded West Indies Test opener was then bowled between bat and pad by a delivery from Chase (2-72) for 11. The Guyanese captain Leon Johnson, got off the mark with a trade mark cover boundary, but it quickly became 61-2, when he offered no shot, and was trapped leg before to Chase.
Hetmyer, the former West Indies youth captain continued to show zero discomfort, especially against the spinners, and reached his half-century, with his sixth boundary off just 55 balls in company of Vishaul Singh.

However, the visitors snatched a wicket on the break of dinner, through Hetmyer’s impatience and poor shot selection.
Having done the hard work, the Berbician threw his wicket away when he mistimed a pull off Jonathan Carter (2-50), and was taken at the deep square leg boundary. His innings of 60, lasted for 120 minutes off 77 balls, with seven fours and three sixes.
The Barbadians came back attacking in the second session but Singh and Chanderpaul opted for the patience route.
The left-handed pair soldiered on for just over an hour to keep the hosts from further imploding.

Both batsmen were in no state to take risks, and kept picking whatever singles or twos were on offer, but the regular bowling changes made by Captain Kraigg Brathwaite, paved the way for two quick wickets.
Both Singh (40) and Christopher Barnwell (4), who selection to the team remains questionable, and who continued to looked completely out of sorts at the crease, were trapped leg before wicket to medium pacer Kevin Stoute (2-52), leaving the Guyanese at 148-5. Singh batted for 93 minutes, and faced 86 balls, including six hits to the boundary ropes.

Raymond Reifer joined Chanderpaul, and together took the Guyanese to 194-5 at the end of the session.
The 42-year-old ex-West Indies captain occasionally came out of his shell with crisp attacking strokes. He stroked Stoute for consecutive boundaries, the first a pleasant cut behind point and then a sweetly timed shot off his hips.
He reached his 136th first-class 50 with his eighth boundary off Jonathan Carter, and looked in complete control of proceedings before Reifer (35), who was batting with commendable restraint gave Stoute an easy catch at mid-on off Carter for 35.
Roach (3-47) had Anthony Bramble caught at backward point for one, before Veerasammy Permaul became Roach’s second victim when he offered Shai Hope a diving catch at point, 234-8.

Motie joined Chanderpaul, and provided clever support to frustrate the visitors. Chanderpaul got to his 100 with a single to short mid-wicket off Roach.
Motie was left unbeaten on 36 when left-arm spinner Jomal Warrican removed Keon Joseph for two.
Play resumes today from 15:00hrs, and admission to the venue is free.

GUYANA JAGUARS 1st innings
R Chandrika b Chase 11
S Hetmyer c Warrican b Carter 60
L Johnson lbw b Chase 4
V Singh lbw b Stoute 40
S Chanderpaul b Roach 100
C Barnwell lbw Stoute 4
R Reifer c Stoute b Carter 35
A Bramble c Brooks b Roach 1
V Permaul c hope b Roach 0
G Motie not out 36
K Joseph lbw b Warrican 2
Extras: (nb-16, lb-2) 18
Total: (all out; 88.2 overs) 311
Fall of Wickets: 1-41, 2-61, 3-99, 4-138, 5-148, 6-233, 7-234, 8-234, 9-304, 10-311
Bowlers: K. Roach 16-2-47-3, J. Greaves 12-3-42-0, K. Stoute 16-3-52-2, R. Chase 18-4-74-2, K. Brattwaite 4-0-14-0, J. Carter 11-0-50-2, J. Warrician 11.2-4-30-1