TWO discarded West Indies players. all rounder Christopher Barnwell and leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, were the bright lights for the Guyana national team who convincingly defeated a Rest XI by 100 runs in another practice encounter at the Guyana National Stadium, yesterday.

Batting first, the national team, who are currently preparing for the 2013 West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Caribbean T20 tournament in Trinidad and St Lucia, scored an imposing 181 for 4 from their 20 overs, with Barnwell hitting a robust 59, which took him 31 deliveries to accumulate and was decorated with five sixes.
Barnwell’s innings, on the other hand, took 26 deliveries to score his half-century with five sixes, adding a responsible 76 for the third wicket with Derwin Christian, who struck four sixes and two fours in his 29-ball 44.
This was after Trevon Griffith (1) and Leon Johnson (5) were both sent back into the pavilion by Keon Joseph who took 2 for 27 and left-arm pacer Andre Stoll (1 for 44), while Barnwell added an even 50 for the fourth wicket with Royston Crandon who made 35 off 23 deliveries with four fours and one six.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Raj Nannan continued to impress during the team’s preparation, picking up 1 for 16 from three overs for the Rest Team, who, apart from Steven Jacobs’ 21, Travis Dowlin’s 16 and Shimron Hetmyer’s 9, found the wiles of Bishoo (4 for 13) too much to handle and were limited to 81 for 9 when a halt was called to the proceedings.
Clinton Pestano (2 for 20) and Crandon (1 for 19) offered support to Bishoo in the bowling department, while the National team exhibited exemplary sharpness in the field – a testament of their rigorous training sessions to date. (Calvin Roberts)