Guyana, T & T play to tense draw in fading light
By Naz Yacoob
POINTE-A-PIERRE, Trinidad, (CANA) - Fast bowler Reon King just failed to bowl Guyana to a victory over Trinidad and Tobago when fading light brought the third round Busta Cup cricket match to a sudden end with the home team's last-wicket at the crease at Guaracara Park here yesterday. At that stage, Trinidad and Tobago, set 183 runs for victory, were in danger of defeat at 155 for nine with Dinanath Ramnarine not-out one and Asif Jan yet to score while another 10.3 overs were left. King captured five for 24 in 20 impressive overs to end with a match haul of 10 for 95 but Guyana, guilty of not bowling at a fast rate, were prevented from recording what would have been a dramatic triumph when umpires Mervyn Jones and Enite Ali offered the batsmen light. Trinidad and Tobago, who had dismissed Guyana for 149 earlier in the day after they resumed from their overnight score of 137 for seven, were cruising along on 83 for three. But the dismissal of first innings centurion Denis Rampersad for 23, bowled by leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo, led to a middle-order collapse which saw four wickets going down for the addition of seven runs while Trinidad and Tobago slipped from 130 for four to 137 for seven. Skipper Brian Lara was among those wickets to fall, bowled around his legs by Nagamootoo for 56 which included four fours off 137 balls in 197 minutes. Afterwards, Trinidad and Tobago had no choice but to abandon the runs chase. King, however, trapped Mukesh Persad leg-before-wicket and bowled Mervyn Dillon for seven to leave Guyana on the brink of victory before Jan and Ramnarine gleefully accepted the umpires' offer to go off at 5.55 p.m. (Eastern Caribbean time). By virtue of their first innings lead, Guyana moved to 20 points while Trinidad and Tobago remained at the bottom of the standings with 12 points. Rampersad was surprisingly named man-of-the-match for his first innings century by former regional umpire Mohammed Hosein ahead of King and Keith Semple, who ensured Guyana took command of the match throughout. Earlier, Ramnarine ended with career-best figures of five for 31 as Trinidad and Tobago took just 30 minutes and 8.5 overs to remove the last three Guyana wickets. With the score on 142, Neil McGarrell was caught by Lara at slip off Ramnarine for one, and three runs later, Semple was bowled around his legs for 65 by Ramnarine. Semple's knock was the mainstay of his team's innings and was compiled in 199 minutes from 176 balls with seven fours. Ramnarine wrapped up the innings when he had King leg-before-wicket without scoring. Off-spinner Persad gave good support, taking three for 36 while make-shift new-ball bowler Anil Balliram took two for 43. Trinidad and Tobago went to lunch at 17 for one and by tea had progressed to 69 for two but on resumption, they lost their way as King and Nagamootoo, who took two for 36, combined to push Guyana near victory.
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