… Bess suffers back strain
WITHOUT the services of fast bowler Brandon Bess who suffered a back strain, Guyana struggled on a flat Guyana National Stadium pitch, as opener Lendl Simmons chalked up his ninth first class century to put Trinidad and Tobago in a healthy position at the end of the first day of their seventh round West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional four-day match yesterday.
Winning the toss and opting to take first strike on a flat wicket, T&T who commenced this round on 40 points were given an early setback when they lost Tishan Maraj (4), but rallied to reach 291 for 4 at the close, with Simmons on 134 and Dinesh Ramdin 32.
The 26-year-old Simmons, who opened his team’s innings with Maraj, was joined by his skipper Daren Ganga (24) and they added 72 for the second wicket, with Simmons driving Ronsford Beaton through mid on for four, while Daren Ganga drove Veerasammy Permaul’s final delivery of his first over to long off for four, as T&T reached 44-1.
A Simmons four through point off Permaul in the 16th over, raised T&T’s 50 after 82 minutes batting, while the 50-partnership between Simmons and Daren Ganga was realised from 16 overs and 56 minutes batting, with Simmons  on 32 and Daren Ganga, who made a ton in T&T’s last match against Jamaica, 16.
Once again, as he did against Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC), Fudadin turned to the part-time off-spin of Narsingh Deonarine, instead of debutant leg-spinner Amir Khan, to which T&T cashed in with Simmons hitting the bowler through point for 4.
Guyana struck 20 minutes before the luncheon break, when Daren Ganga was magnificently caught by Rajendra Chandrika at point off Permaul for 24, made off 65 balls, hitting three fours batting for 82 minutes, adding 72 for the second wicket with Simmons off 19.3 overs.
Jason Mohammed (67) joined Simmons and struck Deonarine over his head for six, followed by a four to long off that pushed T&T to 93-2, five minutes before the luncheon break, before he was given a life by Vishal Singh at silly mid off in the next over bowled by Permaul, when on 12.
At the luncheon break, T&T were 96-2 after 28 overs, with Simmons on 45 and Mohammed 13 and after the break, Mohammed continued to capitalise on the life given to him, by hitting Permaul’s third delivery of the first over for four through extra cover to raise the 100 from 28.3 overs.
Simmons reached his 18th first class half-century from 136 minutes batting. He faced 80 balls, hitting five of them for four, before Mohammed stroked Permaul through wide mid on for four to push his score to 43 and T&T 143-2.
Simmons continued his boundary-hitting act after lunch, when he struck Khan to the long on boundary for his third four after lunch and at the end of the first hour’s play, while Mohammed posted his fourth first class half-century by hitting the 79th ball he faced from Jacobs over extra cover for his fourth four, along with the one six. He batted for 82 minutes.
The two added 112 for the third wicket, before Mohammed who looked set to make Guyana pay for Singh’s blunder, was caught by substitute Shemroy Barrington at point off Beaton for 67 made off 116 deliveries, hitting six fours and one six during his 123-minute stay.
At tea, T&T were 198 for 3, with Simmons on 90 and 10 away from his ninth first class ton, while Sherwin Ganga, who replaced Mohammed, was on 3 and after tea, they reached 200 in the first over.
Simmons turned Permaul to fine leg for four, before he reached his second century of the season and number nine in first class matches from 179 balls with 10 fours. He batted for 265 minutes to reach the target.
Sherwin Ganga was adjudged lbw to Jacobs when he offered no shot to a delivery pitched on middle and off stump in the next over, after adding 33 for the fourth wicket with Simmons, who was joined by discarded West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Dinesh Ramdin.
A Simmons six over long on from Jacobs, pushed T&T to 247 for 4 in overcast conditions, while at the same time taking Simmons’ individual score to 112, as the home team, bowling without the services of Bess who was off the field midway through the second session with a muscle strain in his back, lacked penetration.
A Ramdin four through backward point off Fudadin, who was forced to bowl following Bess’ absence, posted the 50 runs for the fifth-wicket partnership between himself and Simmons who looked purposeful in his innings.
At the close of play, Simmons had faced 250 balls, hitting 10 fours and one six while Ramdin has batted for 93 minutes, faced 71 deliveries and hit three fours, while the two has added 67 runs for the fifth wicket so far, with Bess, Beaton, Permaul and Jacobs picking up a wicket each for Guyana.