By Rajiv Bisnauth
THE Jamaica Scorpions were batting in a perilous position at the end of day two of the final round of the West Indies Cricket Board’s Professional Cricket League (PCL) Four-Day game against the Guyana Jaguars at the National Stadium, Providence yesterday.The Guyana Jaguars tightened their grip on the game as the visitors reached 171-5, still 100 runs adrift of avoiding the follow-on, after the hosts piled up 420 in their first innings.
Devon Thomas and Aldaine Thomas were the unbeaten batsmen on 40 and 21 respectively, a sixth- wicket partnership of 51 runs so far.
The Jamaica Scorpions top and middle order failed to take advantage of good batting conditions and have to blame themselves for the poor batting display they put in.
Jermaine Blackwood and Shacaya Thomas showed some gritty resistance with 62 and 32 to their names.
The early debacle was the result of some accurate bowling by the medium pacer Raymond Reifer, when he made the early breakthrough before left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie made inroads into the visitors’ camp.
Motie finished the day with figures of 3-33, while Reifer ended with 2-43.
Earlier, the visitors had ridden on a superb bowling spell from leg-spinner Damion Jacobs to end the hosts’ first innings just after the lunch break.
Jacobs was the main threat once again on day two and finished with 5-131, his eighth first-class five-wicket haul in an inspired bowling performance.
The hosts lost night watchman Devendra Bishoo at the end of the fifth over in the day’s play when he offered a simple catch to short fine-leg off Jacobs for three.
Resuming at 58 in an overnight total of 297-4, Johnson was somewhat circumspect up front before dispatching Jacobs for consecutive boundaries. The first went past mid-off and the second straight down the ground to move in the 70s, and showed the kind of sublime touch he was in.
Christopher Barnwell, who joined forces with Johnson began his innings with attacking intent, hitting the left-arm medium pace bowler Gavon Brown for a four and a six, but fell leg before wicket to Jacobs for 25.
Johnson in the process passed 800 runs this season in company with Reifer, but fell agonisingly short of his fifth first-class century when he was taken at the wicket off medium pacer Devon Thomas.
He was dismissed for 93 off 185 balls, 266 minutes, six fours and a six, an innings of perfect blend of defence and controlled aggression.
Jason Dawes (2-39) struck in his first over of the day when he trapped Reifer plumb in front for 11, and after the lunch break Jacobs removed Veerasammy Permaul, caught at first slip for 21 before Dawes bowled last man Motie for four.
The visitors began their reply with Shacaya Thomas driving, cutting and pulling with erratic assurance, smacking a quartet of boundaries and a six; but his partner John Campbell never looked comfortable and eventually fell to Reifer for one when he mistimed a pull and was caught by Permaul at mid-on.
Jermaine Blackwood joined Thomas and began a recovery act with the pair denying any further success for the home team as they used the width that was offered them and raced to 70-1 by the interval, with Thomas on 32 and Blackwood on 33.
After the interval, the Jaguars stuck well enough to their plan of an all-spin attack. Motie made the breakthrough immediately, removing Thomas, caught at the wicket.
That dismissal saw the visitors falling back again as they were bogged down and in the process found run-making a hard task.
Motie then trapped Andre McCarthy (3) and Paul Palmer (6) leg before wicket to leave the Scorpions at 88-4, but unfortunately suffered a severe blow to his bowling fingers and had to leave the playing area for treatment.
Blackwood in company with Devon Thomas managed to reach his half ton which took him 106 balls, but Reifer returned for a second spell, and immediately trapped the right-handed Blackwood leg before wicket.
The pair of Devon Thomas and Aldaine Thomas batted to the close without further hiccups. Play continues today at 10:00hrs and admission to the venue is free.
Meanwhile, in the other two games, Leeward Islands Hurricanes closed day two on 18-1, trailing Barbados Pride first innings 436 by 300 runs; and Trinidad and Tobago batting a second time reached 33-1 against the Windward Islands Volcanoes. Scores: Trinidad and Tobago Red Force 211 and 33-1; Windward Islands Volcanoes 289.

SCOREBOARD
Guyana Jaguars 1st innings
R. Chandrika c&b Jacobs 76
T. Chanderpaul lbw b Jacobs 21
S. Hetmyer b Blackwood 107
L. Johnson* c wk A. Thomas b D. Thomas 93
V. Singh b Brown 22
D. Bishoo c Dawes b Jacobs 3
C. Barnwell lbw b Jacobs 25
R. Reifer lbw b Dawes 11
A. Bramble not out 16
V. Permaul c Blackwood b Jacobs 21
G. Motie b Dawes 4
Extras: (w1, nb 12, b5, lb 3) 21
Total: (all out; 127 overs) 420
Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-157, 3-243, 4-286, 5-306, 6-354, 7-371, 8-384, 9-414, 10-420
Bowling: J. Dawes 15-3-39-2, G. Brown 20-3-73-1, D. Thomas 17-5-48-1, D. Bulli 10-1-52-0, A. McCarthy 3-0-11-0, J. Campbell 16-0-50-0, J. Blackwood 3-0-12-1

Jamaica 1st innings
S. Thomas c wk Bramble b Motie 32
J. Campbell c Permaul b Reifer 1
J. Blackwood lbw b Reifer 62
A. McCarthy lbw b Motie 3
P. Palmer lbw b Motie 6
D. Thomas not out 40
A. Thomas not out 21
Extras: (nb 4, lb 2) 6
Total: (for five wickets; 57 overs) 171
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-70, 3-74, 4-88, 5-120
Bowling: Reifer 10-3-43-2, Barnwell 4-2-21-0, Motie 15.3-4-33-3, Permaul 18-6-35-0, Bishoo 9.3-3-37-0