Fudadin, Johnson defy Barbados on shortened  first day 
RESILIENT batting from skipper Assad Fudadin 77 not out  and fellow left-hander Leon Johnson (51) added 103 for the second wicket to defy Barbados and pilot Guyana to a comfortable 176-3 off 62.1 overs, when bad light stopped play at the end of the first day of their fourth round West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional four-day match at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, yesterday.
Having won the toss and asked their hosts to take first strike after the first session was washed out, Barbados removed Rajendra Chandrika (18) who opened the innings with Fudadin, caught at the wicket by Shane Dowrich off Pedro Collins, but not before the Everest Cricket Club batsman had struck Collins for two fours, to leave Guyana on 30-1 in the ninth over.
Johnson replaced Chandrika and after a cautious start, struck Kevin Stoute through extra cover and over point for back-to-back fours, while Fudadin, who looked positive in attack and compact in defence, went down the wicket to hit Ryan Layne’s third delivery for six over long on.
At tea, Guyana, who lost two of their first three matches to defending champions Jamaica and Windward Islands with the other against the Leeward Islands being rained out completely, were 102-1 with Fudadin on 39 and Johnson 32.
After tea, Fudadin and Johnson continued to fight for Guyana, with the former on-driving Collins through extra cover for three, while Johnson steered Layne to third man for his fifth four to push his score to 39. Guyana moved to 116-1 with Fudadin on 46.
Roston Chase, who had two overs before the tea break, replaced Collins at the Media Centre End, after the left-handed fast bowler sent down two overs and was swept by Johnson to fine leg for four, that pushed Guyana to 124-1 after 41 overs.
Fudadin called on his batsmen to apply themselves more and he led by example by punching Layne to the deep extra cover boundary for three off his 116th ball and 172 minutes batting, hitting one four and one six in the process.
Johnson emulated his skipper when he brought up his half-century off 108 balls and 137 minutes batting, hitting eight fours in the process, while the  100-run second-wicket partnership took them 137 minutes to accumulate off 204 balls, with a combined total of nine fours and one six.
Barbados removed Johnson, whose slog sweep was caught by Kraigg Brathwaite (whose foot touched the ropes in the process) on the deep midwicket boundary off Layne for 51, made off 119 balls with eight fours and 142 minutes of batting, leaving Guyana on 133-2, with Fudadin on 51.
Gajanand Singh replaced Johnson, whose second-wicket partnership with Fudadin was worth 103 from 226 balls, decorated with nine fours and one six and 142 minutes of batting. Johnson, a former West Indies Under-19 skipper, failed to convert a half- century into three figures for the seventh time at this level.
Gajanand Singh was arguably the best youth batsman in his time for Guyana and he showed why, with two classical fours off Layne, while Fudadin struck a six back over the head of Chase, to raise Guyana’s 150 in the 55th over followed by back-to-back fours off Chase and Layne in separate overs.
A fired-up Edwards was asked to replace Chase at the Media Centre End and responded by knocking back the middle stump of Gajanand Singh, who made 19 (2×4) while adding 42 for the third wicket with Fudadin who was on 72 from 13 overs, with Guyana 175-3.
Royston Cranbdon joined his Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club teammate Assad Fudadin and after adding one run, umpires Nigel Duguid and Norman Malcolm offered lights to the batsmen at 17:17 h.They accepted to close the first day on 176-3 off 62.1 overs with Fudadin on 77 and Crandon yet to score.
To date, Fudadin has struck four fours and two sixes in his innings from the 195 balls he faced while batting for 257 minutes and when play resumes at 09:30 h Fudadin will be looking to chalk up his first ton at this level, while Guyana will be looking to consolidate on their impressive start.

GUYANA first innings
R. Chandrika c Dowrich b Collins    18
A. Fudadin not out    77
L. Johnson c Braithwaite b Layne    51
G. Singh b Edwards    19
R. Crandon not out    0
Extras: (lb-2, w-2, nb-11)    15
Total (for 3 wickets off 62.1 overs)    176
Fall of wicket: 1-30, 2-133, 3-175.
Bowling: Collins 8-0-36-1 (nb-3), Edwards 12.1-6-22-1 (nb-4), Hinds 6-1-15-0 (nb-1), Holder 5-1-12-0 (nb-1, w-2), Stoute 8-1-25-0 (nb-2), Layne 13-2-43-1, Chase 10-4-21-0.