… Jaguars struggle to 162-7 at stumps

FOUR-time defending champions, Guyana Jaguars, were slightly the happier side at the close of play on day one of their ninth round Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional Four-day encounter against Barbados Pride at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence yesterday.
Seventeen wickets fell on a remarkable day and by stumps Jaguars had built on a dominant bowling effort to reach 162-7, a lead of 86 runs with three wickets in hand.

The Jaguars’ top order put up yet another disappointing batting display, with Raymon Reifer unbeaten on 33, Vishaul Singh hitting 33, Anthony Bramble (23), Tagenarine Chanderpaul (19) and Sherfane Rutherford 15.
Earlier, the left-arm seamer Reifer led the demolition of the Barbadians with a five-wicket haul as the tourists were dismissed for 76 in just 29.1 overs in an extended first session but they staged an incredible fightback with the ball in the afternoon session to reduce the hosts’ dominance.

That was the only period in the day the Barbadians appeared to be holding any sort of initiative, as seamers Jonathan Carter (3-45) and Miquel Cummins (2-39) posed significant challenges.
The 27-year-old Reifer, who was particularly impressive, decimated Pride’s top order to render the contest in the hosts’ favour with four of the first five wickets, to set the platform for the must-win game for Jaguars.

Fellow-seamers; Christopher Barnwell (2-26), Romario Shepherd (1-17), and Rutherford (1-10), complemented Reifer’s figures of five for 20 off ten overs while left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul chipped in with the final wicket.

The Jaguars’ bowling was good throughout. The Barbadian batting, for the most part, was ordinary. The wicket had some grass but in no way was it overly hazardous for batting.
No one would dare claim that Pride have the strongest batting unit in the game, but surely the likes of Shamarh Brooks, Carter and Rashidi Boucher are capable of doing better. They are the ones tasked with getting the bulk of the runs for their team, yet they never did.
However, only Chaim Holder (22) and Boucher (17) managed double-figures which told the story of an irresponsible approach by an inexperienced batting line-up.

On a pitch offering considerable assistance to the pacers on both sides, Reifer and Shepherd triggered a Pride top-order slide, which saw the visiting team lose their first five wickets for 30 run in the first hour of play.
After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, the pressure was on the openers to deliver the goods. However, Boucher started with impressive assurance, hitting boundaries from his first three scoring shots off Shepherd, but at the other end, fellow-opener Shayne Moseley, was less notable.

Reifer was right on target and reaped immediate rewards, to set the rout in motion by claiming both Moseley and Boucher, leg-before to probing full-length balls, before Shepherd had Brooks caught behind.
The Barbadian Reifer, who plies his trade with Jaguars, then bowled Carter before he had Aaron Jones, caught in the slips. A double change from both ends also reaped rewards for the hosts with Barnwell, who replaced Reifer from the Media Centre end, taking Shamar Springer at the wicket. Rutherford removed Jomel Warrican in similar fashion without scoring.

Reifer returned and completed his sixth five-wicket haul, with the wicket of Marquino Mindley before Permaul brought an end to the innings.
Jaguars then made a nervous start to their innings, losing the wicket of Chandrapaul Hemraj, bowled by Cummins for nine, at 12-1. However, the left-handed pair of Chanderpaul and Singh then negotiated, with defence being their primary focus.

The duo rotated the strike and by tea they took Jaguars to 56-1. However, upon resumption, the home team suffered a mini-collapse, losing four wickets for ten runs.
Chanderpaul (19), Singh (33), Leon Johnson (1) and Barnwell (2) were the batsmen to go during that period.

Anthony Bramble and Rutherford were the other two batsmen dismissed but thereafter Reifer and Shepherd batted confidently until the close.
Jaguars omitted left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and batsman Akshaya Persaud from the 13-man squad.
Play resumes at 10:00hrs today and admission to the venue is free.

SCOREBOARD
BARBADOS Pride 1st innings
S. Moseley lbw b Reifer 2
R. Boucher lbw b Reifer 17
S. Brooks c Bramble b Shepherd 1
J. Carter b Reifer 1
A. Jones c Lewis b Reifer 4
S. Springer c Bramble b Barnwell 8
T. Walcott c Barnwell b 8
J. Warrican c Bramble b Rutherford 0
M. Cummins not out 4
M. Mindley c Singh b Reifer 5
C. Holder b Permaul 22
Extras: (lb-2, nb-2) 4
Total: (all out, 29.1 overs) 76
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-21, 3-23, 4-23, 5-28, 6-39, 7-44, 8-44, 9-50.
Bowling: Shepherd 8-3-17-1, Reifer 10-5-20-5, Rutherford 4-1-10-1, Barnwell 6-2-26-2, Lewis 1-0-1-0, Permaul 0.1-0-0-1.

GUYANA JAGUARS 1st innings
T. Chanderpaul c Walcott b Carter 19
C. Hemraj b Cummins 9
V. Singh c Walcott b Carter 33
L. Johnson c Walcott b Cummins 1
C. Barnwell c Warrican b Carter 2
A. Bramble lbw b Mindley 23
R. Reifer not out 33
S. Rutherford c Carter b Springer 15
R. Shepherd not out 7
Extras: (lb-9, nb-6) 15
Total: (for seven wickets; 60 overs) 162
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-68, 3-73, 4-76, 5-78, 6-104, 7-140.
Bowling: Cummins 12-0-39-2, Mindley 9-1-26-1, Springer 8-5-11-1, Carter 18-3-45-3, Warrican 8-2-16-0, Holder 5-1-11-0.