dominant position
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,  (CMC) – Spinners Amit Jaggernauth and Imran Khan set things up, and their openers fortified Trinidad & Tobago’s dominant position over Windward Islands in the WICB regional first-class championship yesterday.
Jaggernauth and Khan shared seven wickets, as Windwards, responding to T&T’s first innings total of 263, were dismissed for 188 about 25 minutes before the tea break on the second day of their sixth round match at Queen’s Park Oval.
Off-spinner Jaggernauth was the pick of the T&T bowlers with four wickets for 58 runs from 25 overs, and leg-spinner Khan supported with three for 62 from 23.2 overs.
Andre Fletcher led the fight for the Windwards with 61, his captain Devon Smith, batting at six, made 37, and Deighton Butler was not out on 24.
Justin Guillen and Adrian Barath then consolidated T&T’s dominance, when they put on 101 for the first wicket to lead the host to 136 for one – an overall lead of 211 – at the close.
Guillen was dismissed in the final half-hour for 60, but Barath remained not out on 49, and was eyeing his second half-century of match on his return to competitive action, following a hamstring injury.
Barath and Guillen followed their 90-run opening stand in the first innings with another solid alliance.
Left-hander Guillen, playing on his club’s turf, revelled in the familiar surroundings, and played a number of handsome strokes.
He brought up his half-century from 64 balls with his seventh boundary before he was caught behind from the bowling of off-spinner Shane Shillingford.
T&T captain Daren Ganga joined Barath, and they were fortunate to navigate the two-island republic to stumps.
Shillingford went from hero to zero, after he muffed a skier, when Barath, on 48, essayed a pull at a short delivery from leg-spinner Rawl Lewis in the second-last over of the day.
Earlier, the Windwards resumed on their overnight total of 23 for one, and ran into immediate trouble, and had subsided to 115 for four at lunch.
Night-watchman Nelon Pascal was a cheap wicket, when Navin Stewart bowled him for 11 with the last ball of the first over of the day.
Two run-outs needlessly surrendered the scalps of Craig Emmanuel for 44 and Liam Sebastien for two to leave the Windwards wobbling on 60 for four.
Smith came to the crease and brought stability to the innings in a stand of 71 for the wicket with compatriot Fletcher either side of lunch before Khan brought bedlam to the Windwards’ plans.
Fletcher struck seven fours and one six from 112 balls in just over two hours in another sojourn to the crease that promised much more.
He played shots all around the wicket before losing his composure, charged down the pitch to a well-flighted delivery from Khan, swung and missed, and was stumped.
Smith soon followed with a catch close to the wicket off the same bowler, as the Windwards coughed up five wickets for 18 runs to crash to 149 for nine.
Some lusty hitting from Butler and Kenroy Peters added some respectability to the Windwards’ total.
T&T are fifth in the standings on 21 points, and the Windwards are sixth on 16 points.