… Champs need 330 runs for victory

By Clifton Ross

VENOMOUS spells from pacers Kemar Roach and Jason Holder, coupled with a touch of class from skipper Kraigg Brathwaite, kept Barbados Pride in the driver’s seat against Guyana Jaguars, heading into an important penultimate day of action.
The Bajans stole Day 2 from under the nose of the Jags and were bowled out for 210 in 66.2 overs. Brathwaite was left stranded on an unbeaten 84 heading into Day 3 with Pride leading by 329 runs.

Fast-bowler Keemo Paul returned 4-52 while seamer Chris Barnwell (2-26) and off-spinner Kevin Sinclair (2-28) were the other successful bowlers.
The pillage commenced when, after resuming on 19 for 2, the champs were shockingly blown away, crashing to one of their lowest totals in 4-Day cricket. They were mowed down for just 55 runs.

It was a rampant approach from the pair of seasoned West Indies pacers, Roach snapped up 5-20 in a venomous spell that rocked the champs.
Holder bagged 4-24 as the pair put on one of the classiest exhibitions of pace bowling on the Providence surface, giving the Pride a 119-run lead over the hosts.
The 9-wicket haul between Holder and Roach inevitably confined the Jaguars batsmen, with the West Indies pair of Shimron Hetmyer (14) and Romario Shepherd (12) being the primary scorers.

After flattening the Jaguars, Brathwaite made the wise decision to continue piling on the runs, as he picked up where he left off in the first innings.

After off-spinner Sinclair landed a double strike to remove both Shayne Moseley (15) and Shamarh Brooks (6), Guyana got back into the match for a brief passage.
Jonathan Carter made up for his woes in the first innings, hitting a solid 43 with six fours and a six before Barnwell pinned him lbw.

The Jags seamers, similar to the first innings made quick inroads into the lower-order, as Reifer, Barnwell and Paul helped to negate Holder’s possible retaliation which saw him muscle 5 fours in his 22.

Despite the hiccups, Brathwaite remained calm and brought up a gritty half-century while stretching Pride’s lead beyond 300 runs heading into today’s play.

Wickets continued to tumble as Paul found his line. He easily mopped up the remaining batsmen, denying the Pride captain of what looked like a certain century.
Day 3 will continue today at 14:00hrs.