KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – West Indies opener Lendl Simmons kept Trinidad and Tobago in the hunt but persistent rain spoiled an intriguing battle for first innings points on the second day of their Regional Four-Day semi-final against Jamaica here yesterday. Replying to Jamaica’s 246, T&T were fighting at 162 for six when rain arrived at 14:31hrs and forced an early tea interval, before washing out the final session at Sabina Park.
Before the rain arrived, Simmons grabbed the opportunity to stroke a polished 79, a knock that gave T&T a strong start to the day. They were 86 for two at one stage but left-arm spinner Nikita Miller, who finished with three for 39, intervened to haul Jamaica back into the contest.
Yannick Cariah chipped in with 26 and Akeal Hosein, in his maiden first class match, was unbeaten at 24 at the close, with T&T requiring another 84 runs for first innings honours.
Resuming on 17 for one, Simmons and Cariah batted T&T into a relatively strong position, courtesy of a 64-run, second-wicket partnership.
Simmons faced 137 balls in slightly over four hours at the crease and stroked ten fours and a six, to break a run of low scores.
Cariah, meanwhile, faced 86 deliveries in 126 minutes before perishing at 73 for two, to trigger a slide after lunch that saw three wickets fall for 18 runs.
T&T were 75 for two at the interval but afterwards, Steven Katwaroo was lbw to Miller for two and Jason Mohammed was bowled by pacer Andrew Richardson off the fifth ball he faced without scoring.
Jamaica then got the big wicket of captain Denesh Ramdin, bowled by Miller for eight and were in control when Simmons finally departed, lbw to the wily left-armer.

JAMAICA 1st innings
B. Parchment c wkp. Ramdin b Richards 5
D. Hyatt lbw b Khan 21
N. Bonner c Mohammed b Richards 3
A. McCarthy lbw b Richards 1
T. Lambert c wkp. Ramdin b Emrit 38
D. Bernard Jr run-out 18
C. Baugh Jr not out 88
N. Miller run-out 21
A. Richardson lbw b Richards 0
O. Brown c wkp. Ramdin b Richards 0
S. Cotterell lbw b Khan 44
Extras: (lb-6, nb-1) 7
Total: (all out. 80.5 overs) 246
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-13, 3-17, 4-49, 5-87, 6-87, 7-130, 8-143, 9-143.
Bowling: Gabriel 12-3-43-0, Richards 17.2-1-46-5 (nb-1), Emrit 15-0-46-1, Simmons 2-1-5-0, Khan 21.5-3-53-2, Hosein 10.1-4-39-0, Cariah 2-0-8-0.
T&T 1st innings (o/n 17 for one)
L. Simmons lbw b Miller 79
J. Solozano run-out 1
Y. Cariah c Parchment b Brown 26
S. Katwaroo lbw b Miller 2
J. Mohammed b Richardson 0
D. Ramdin b Miller 8
A. Hosein not out 24
I. Khan not out 6
Extras: (b-9, lb-5, w-1, nb-1) 16
Total: (6 wkts, 63.1 overs) 162
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-73, 3-86, 4-91, 5-118, 6-145.
Bowling: Richardson 10-2-47-1, Cotterell 14-4-28-0, Bernard 7-2-9-0, Brown 13-4-25-1. Miller 19.1-4-39-3.
Position: T&T trail by 84 runs with four wickets intact.