DESPITE conceding first-innings points to Trinidad and Tobago after being bowled out for 195 in their first innings, Guyana were given an open chance to fight for an improbable outright victory in their fourth round West Indies Cricket Board Regional 4-Day match at the famous Queen’s Park Oval.
Having been set 376 to win the match and secure full points, Guyana closed the third day in a comfortable position at 54 for the loss of one wicket, that of Assad Fudadin who gave his hand away with an ambitious extravagant off-drive to

present birthday boy Reyad Emrit with a celebratory gift on his 32nd birthday.
However, 17-year-old Tagenarine Chanderpaul survived a nasty blow on his helmet from a sharp rising delivery from Ryad Emrit and battled bravely and confidently to the end of play and was undefeated on a valuable 27 that was studded with four delightful fours off 49 deliveries.
His not-out partner Devendra Bishoo who was given the nightwatchman duties was four from 13 deliveries.
With nine wickets intact Guyana need 321 runs from 90 overs to accomplish a come-from-behind victory.
Despite their shocking failures in the first innings, experienced stalwarts Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul will want to prove that they still can fight a brave battle and fashion another sensational victory which they did at the Test level against Australia at the Antigua Recreation ground in 2003.
They also have the talented Narsingh Deonarine who would want to get something special alongside his name having been called up for the Digicel First Test against Zimbabwe.
It would be an engaging battle for supremacy and nothing is impossible as the Guyanese team will fancy their chances to restore some dented pride. They would want to have the last laugh.
Playing in his 56th first class match, Emrit pitched his delivery outside the line of the off stump and left-handed Fudadin drove carelessly and succeeded in guiding the in-swinger unto his stumps. He departed for 19 that was made up of three boundaries off 36 deliveries.
Fudadin enjoyed a slice of luck when Dwayne Bravo’s valiant diving effort at first slip was floored off the bowling of finger-spinner Sunil Narine who had wreaked havoc on Thursday with a mesmeric spell that flattened the Guyanese middle and lower order and saw them capitulate from a solid position at 156 for one to 195 for nine wickets in less than nine overs.
Narine finished with 6 for 38 while new ball bowler Shannon Gabriel wrapped up the innings with the very first ball on resumption yesterday. He sent Ronsford Beaton offstump on a gymnastic journey, cart-wheeling with the direct impact that opened up the opportunity for Trinidad and Tobago to be in a very good position to force an outright victory.
T&T then secured on overall lead of 375 when their top four batsmen, led by openers Adrian Barath (56) and Lendl Simmons (70) together provided the stage for some attractive and attacking strokeplay from both Darren Bravo (48 not out) and Kieron Pollard (54 not out) to treat the small but animated supporters with scintillating and powerful shots against an attack – apart from skipper Veersammy Permaul and surprisingly Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who bowled decent medium pace – that looked helpless in stemming the flow of runs.
Guyana lost the services of new-ball bowler Paul Wintz who injured his ankle during his first delivery which went for four wides. Fudadin was called upon to support Beaton but their wayward line and length made life very easy for Barath and Simmons to score freely on both sides of the pitch and from both ends.
There was no pressure until ‘Big Shiv’ Chanderpaul astonishingly replaced Beaton at the Brian Lara Pavilion End and created a big stir among the players and officials. His twenty-odd years of first class experience saw the Unity Village superstar in new incarnation as a medium pace bowler for Guyana.
Shockingly, many felt that skipper Permaul was trying to lure the Trinidadians into a false sense of complacency but Chanderpaul displayed to his younger compatriots and the Trinidadians that you do not have to have express pace and hostility to trouble batsmen but good control and excellent seam movement that brought utmost respect from both Barath and Simmons who were under serious examination with their ability to read the swinging ball and lateral movement off the placid strip.
There was no real help for the bowlers but Chanderpaul’s full length deliveries forced both batsmen to play safely and guardedly.
Barath was fortunate to survive two very confident lbw appeals against Chanderpaul in his very first over with the fourth and sixth deliveries bang on target and not touching bat. The first appeal looked plumb on middle stump while the second one came back into the small-statured right-hander as he groped unconvincingly forward to one that was pitched just outside offstump but swung away from the inside edge of the probing bat and unto the pads.
‘Big Shiv’ was all businesslike and although Barath had struck a sweetly-timed boundary in his next over, the 38-year-old West Indian legend finished with impressive figures of 7-5-5-0.
Permaul bowled in tandem with ‘Big Shiv’ and they restricted Barath and Simmons with their wonderful variations and excellent line and length variations.
But both openers survived until Devendra Bishoo replaced Chanderpaul and was spanked for two fours in his first over while Narsingh Deonarine also conceded a boundary in his first over just before the lunch interval and the pressure was eased.
It was not a good strategy at that stage because it allowed Barath and Simmons to relax during the lunch break and to resume in a much more positive mode.
They did show that intent on resumption with Beaton and Bishoo in operation and runs flowed like the Demerara River. Untroubled by the unpenetrative bowling, Barath 38 off 100 balls and Simmons 43 off 112 balls posted 100 in 129 minutes for the first-wicket partnership. They motored along with Simmons getting his second fifty of the match with one six and five fours off 130 balls while Barath followed soon after with his fifty that included seven fours off 125 balls.
At 144, skipper Permaul effected the breakthrough when Barath (56), in an attempt to accelerate the run-scoring, played uppishly and Leon Johnson held on to the catch at the extra cover position
This allowed Darren Bravo to once again get among the runs with his elegant strokeplay. Simmons was outfoxed by Narsingh Deonarine for 70, easily taken by wicketkeeper Derwin Christian from one that lobbed up off the upper half of the bat.
Power-hitter Kieron Pollard entered the fray and immediately stamped his class with forceful stokes. His no-nonsense mood saw him cart Permaul, Bishoo and Deonarine for massive sixes and three fours off 32 balls as he raced to a quick-fire unbeaten 54 while Bravo was undefeated on 48 (two four and two sixes off 61 balls) when skipper Denesh Ramdin declared T&T’s second innings closed at 251 for two wickets, for an overall lead of 375.
They had featured in an unbroken 87-run third-wicket partnership but Bravo wanted one more over to complete his second fifty after his attractive 66 in the first stanza.
Despite Bravo and Pollard’s protestations for another over, Ramdin was adamant to give his bowlers as much time to bowl out the powerful Guyanese batting line-up a second time.
The pitch is still good for batting and ‘Lil Shiv’, uncharacteristically took the fight to the Trinidadians and he would seek to set the tempo for Guyana’s push to secure twelve points. If this teenager is batting so confidently and assuredly, it is now up to the established stars to prove their worth. The battle will conclude today.