THANKS to some incisive fast bowling from Justin Greaves, coupled with an unbeaten innings from West Indies youth skipper Kraigg Brathwaite, Barbados were in the driver’s seat against Guyana at the end of the first day of their fifth round West Indies Cricket Board Under-19 three-day match at the Everest Cricket Club ground yesterday. Winning the toss and bating first on a flat track that offered bounce to the fast bowlers, Guyana were rocked by Greaves who ended with 4 for 17, before they were bowled out for 87 to which Barbados reached a comfortable 148 for 3 at stumps, with Brathwaite unbeaten on 55.
Scores to date: Guyana 87 Barbados 148 for 3.
Some of his teammates were just about to settle in the South Western stand, when opener Kevon Boodie (0) was making his way back to the pavilion, caught at second slip by Neil Browne off Greaves who also removed Chanderpaul Hemraj (01) courtesy of another catch by Browne in the same position.
When Greaves’ bowling partner Jerome Jones, who ended with 2 for 12 from seven overs of left-arm bowling, removed both Linden Austin (0) and Dominic Rikhi (1), Guyana whose batting failed miserably in their last innings at the same venue, were shakily placed on 7 for 4 in the fourth over.
Kwame Crosse who top-scored with 42 and Anthony Adams (15) staged a mini recovery, with Crosse being given a life by Browne when on 7 with Guyana 17 for 4 in the seventh over off the bowling of Greaves.
The left-handed batsman said ‘thank you’ later in his innings, when he struck Jonathan Drakes for a hat- trick of boundaries in his lone over, as he added 53 valuable runs for the fifth wicket with a sedate-looking Anthony.
They took Guyana to 54 for 4 at the first drinks break, with Crosse on 35 that included six fours from 35 balls and Adams 10, before the introduction of Chaim Holder (3-10) saw Guyana lose three quick wickets in the blink of an eye.
Anthony Adams was caught by Drakes at square leg, when he attempted to pull a short delivery from the spinner, bringing his 53-run fifth-wicket partnership between himself and Crosse to a close, after 54 minutes batting.
He was followed by his namesake Ricardo Adams who was bowled around his legs by Holder three balls later when he went back to cut. Amir Khan (4) was convincingly bowled by Holder as he played a defensive push to a delivery pitched outside his off stump.
From 60 for 4, Guyana slid to 74 for 8, losing Crosse whose long vigil, which lasted 98 minutes and saw him face 57 balls for his 42, came to an end as he went back to cut Brathwaite through point and got a faint edge through to the wicketkeeper.
It was all over for the home team when their skipper Ronsford Beaton was caught and bowled by Greaves in the sixth over after the lunch break, followed by Gudakesh Kanhai-Motie who was lbw to the same bowler two overs later.
Holder with 3 for 10 and Jones 2 for 12 offered worthy support to Greaves for Barbados, who were rocked early in their reply by Beaton, after the first-class fast bowler knocked over the off stump of Shane Parris (3) in the third over of their innings.
The right-handed Brathwaite, who had led the West Indies Under-19 team to their successful tour of Australia, Dubai and Florida before the start of the tournament, found a useful ally in Shai Hope (18) with whom he added 42 for the second wicket.
Even though they were not able to score the boundaries, hitting just two fours during their stay together, they rotated the strike by picking the gaps for the singles along with the occasional threes and twos, before Hope was bowled by Anthony Adams in the first over after tea.
Anthony Alleyne (31) joined his skipper and they took their team to first-innings points, before Alleyne was caught by Khan at first slip off Lloydel Lewis’ fifth ball of the tournament.
That turned out to be the last hurrah for the Guyanese, Brathwaite found another reliable partner in Kyle Mayers with whom he has added 53 unbroken runs for the fourth wicket so far, with Mayers hitting both Motie and Khan for six while Brathwaite posted his first half-century in this year’s tournament, taking 151 balls striking three fours and batting for 187 minutes to achieve same.
At the close, Brathwaite was unbeaten on 55 having batted for 161 minutes and hitting three fours from the 161 balls he faced. Mayers, who seemed to find the boundary easily compared to his fallen teammates, has so far struck three fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 34.