Smith rocks Johnson’s XI despite Sinclair’s resistance
SUMMARY: Antony Adams’ XI 174 (Tevin Imlach 28, Nial Smith 27; Devendra Bishoo 5-45, Christopher Barnwell 2-19) & 76-3 (Raymond Perez 40*, Johnathon Foo 27*; Keon Joseph 2-19) leads Leon Johnson’s XI 127 (Kevin Sinclair 53, Barnwell 25; Smith 4-34, Ramaal Lewis 2-18) by 123 runs.
Nial Smith has enhanced his chances over a possible Guyana Jaguars four-day call up after an explosive spell of fast bowling in the three-day practice match at the National Stadium, Providence, Sunday.
The Berbician rocked Leon Johnson’s XI with figures of 4-34 from nine pacey overs.
Johnson’s XI practically contains the core of Jaguars batting unit for the upcoming Regional Four-Day Championship, and had it not been for young talent Kevin Sinclair with a sparkling innings of 53, it could have been worse at the end of day two.
Bowling from the Media Centre end, the young lad exerted great pace and bounce and nipped the bails of Chandrapaul Hemraj for a first-ball duck and soon had Trevon Griffith for eight. Skipper Leon Johnson lasted 25 balls in a 31-minute stay for his two, before he became another victim of the fired up Smith.
Young seamer Qumar Torrington was in the mix with the new-ball as well, getting Vishaul Singh for three and Christopher Barnwell for a run-a-ball 25 (3x4s; 1×6). The rearguard resistance came from Sinclair who produced a typical counter-attacking innings.
Sinclair picked the gaps smartly in his stand with Gudakesh Motie (16) for the seventh wicket. The hallmark of Sinclair’s innings was his ability to play risk-free shots but get high reward.
A slice to third-man for two, brought fifty for the young man, who, it is fair to say, has enhanced his chances of making the squad. The landmark came off 57 balls, having hit eight fours and one six. His 81-minute stay was ended when he edged Adams to Johnathon Foo at slip.
Keon Joseph made it a nervous stay for the Adams’ XI batsmen in the after session with a fiery spell which had Tevin Imlach (4) playing on a short-ball to his stumps after a gorgeous cover drive and Akshaya Persaud (1) edging behind.
Raymond Perez resisted the urge for the big shots on most occasions and battled through the body-line tactics of Joseph.
After the heat of Joseph was out of the attack, his array of wristy shots came out against the spinners, to end the day unbeaten on 40, hitting six fours. There was a rush of blood when he skied Motie on 39, but was dropped by Sinclair.
At the other end, Foo safely negotiated his way to 27. Kemol Savory gave Sinclair his second wicket of the match when he went leg before without troubling the scores.
Earlier, Adams’ XI resumed on 80-2 and the none of their batsman who clearly got starts were not able to convert as Devendra Bishoo wreaked havoc with 5-45.
Imalch top-scored with 28, but there were three other batsmen who got into the 20s. Perez made 24, while Smith had 27 and Ronaldo Alimohamed got to 25.
Barnwell supported with 2-19, while Sinclair (1-7) and Motie (1-11) were the other men to take wickets.
The match wraps up on Monday.
