KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) – Opener Devon Smith missed out on his third successive century before Windward Islands seamers rocked Trinidad and Tobago, as the hosts took command of their second round game in the Regional Four-Day Championship yesterday.. The left-hander, who plundered hundreds in both innings against Combined Campuses and Colleges last weekend, fell agonisingly for 99 as the Windwards were dismissed for 260 at the Arnos Vale Stadium.
At the close of the second day, T&T were reeling at 52 for five after a burst by left-arm seamers Delorn Johnson (2-9) and Kenroy Peters (2-14), knocked over the top order and left the innings in disarray.
The visitors require a further 29 runs to make the Windwards bat again, with two days left in the encounter.
Resuming the day on 23 without loss, the Windwards were propelled by an opening stand of 124 between Smith and Tyrone Theophile, who hammered a polished 70.
Smith hit 11 fours off 168 balls in a little over four hours at the crease while Theophile, a right-hander, struck nine fours and a six in an innings that spanned 100 balls and 134 minutes.
West Indies pacer Ravi Rampaul, who finished with five for 65, then hauled T&T back into the game when he snatched three wickets in one over about 25 minutes before lunch.
He removed Theophile to a catch at the wicket by Denesh Ramdin and also sent back Andre Fletcher and Donwell Hector without scoring.
Smith then patched up the innings in a 44-run, fourth-wicket stand with captain Liam Sebastien (22) and added a further 46-run partnership with Dalton Polius (32 not out), before he was bowled by 20-year-old leg-spinner Yannic Cariah who finished with four for 39.
Facing a deficit of 81 runs, T&T were then steamrolled. Justin Guillen pushed at Johnson and was taken behind at nine for one before left-hander Evin Lewis (5) pulled the same bowler to square leg where Polius pouched the catch at 15 for two.
When Lendl Simmons played on to Peters for two at 27 for three T&T were in deeper trouble and Jason Mohammed’s dismissal, caught at slip by Smith off Peters, sunk T&T even further into the mire.
Opener Adrian Barath, who spent 51 balls and nearly and hour-and-a-half over 15, seemed to be taking T&T to the close when he edged a cut at left-arm spinner Garey Mathurin to Smith at slip.

T&T 1st innings 179
WINDWARDS 1st innings (o/n 23 without loss)
D. Smith b Cariah 99
T. Theophile c wkp. Ramdin b Rampaul 70
A. Fletcher c c wkp. Ramdin b Rampaul 0
D. Hector b Rampaul 0
L. Sebastien c Gabriel b Rampaul 22
D. Polius not out 32
L. James lbw b Jaggernauth 7
G. Mathurin lbw b Cariah 0
K. Peters c wkp. Ramdin b Cariah 0
N. Pascal c Guillen b Pascal 1
D. Johnson c Cariah b Rampaul 17
Extras: (b-2, lb-4, w-5, nb-1) 12
TotalL (all out, 78.5 overs) 260
Fall of wickets: 1-124, 2-124, 3-124, 4-168, 5-214, 6-227, 7-228, 8-228, 9-234,
Bowling: Jaggernauth 27-7-71-1, Gabriel 12-1-50-0, Rampaul 18.5-6-65-5, Emrit 5-1-21-0, Simmons 2-1-8-0, Cariah 14-4-39-4.
T&T 2nd innings
A. Barath c Smith Mathurin 15
J. Guillen c wkp. James b Johnson 7
E. Lewis c Polius b Johnson 5
L. Simmons b Peters 2
J. Mohammed c Smith b Peters 8
A. Jaggernauth not out 4
D. Ramdin not out 4
Extras: (b-4, w-1, nb-2) 7
Total: (5 wkts, 21 overs) 52
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-15, 3-27, 4-40, 5-48.
Bowling: Pascal 4-0-15-0, Johnson 6-1-9-2, Peters 5-0-14-2, Mathurin 4-1-10-1, Sebastien 2-2-0-0.
Position: T&T require 29 runs, with five wickets intact, to make Windwards bat again.