PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) - In-form pacer Jason Bennett snared two wickets late in the last session to give West Indies-B the upper hand against Trinidad and Tobago on the opening day of their second round Carib Beer Series match at the National Cricket Centre yesterday.
Responding to the West Indies-B team’s 238 all out, Trinidad and Tobago were wobbling at 24 for three at stumps with Dwayne Bravo not out on 10 and Aneil Kanhai on one.
The pair accepted the offer of light by umpires Glenroy Johnson and Zainool Maccum with four overs in the day’s play remaining.
Bennett, who was on a hat-trick, has claimed two for 10 off three overs.
And the local side could have been in further trouble had Lendl Simmons taken a straightforward catch at slip in lanky fast bowler Dwight Washington’s last over.
Earlier, Trinidad and Tobago’s skipper Imran Jan won the toss and inserted the opposition, a move that appeared to have backfired at the lunch interval with the visitors playing steadily at 81 for one, with Simmons on 53 and Ryan Ramdass on 27.
The Windies-B had earlier lost opener Jason Haynes run-out, without scoring. He was involved in a terrible mix-up with Ramdass with the total on two.
The T&T team lifted their game in the post-lunch period, with some positive bowling and improvement in their fielding.
The regional ‘Development’ side lost their second wicket on 99 with the dismissal of Simmons (59).
The talented right-hander failed to beat a direct hit from Amit Jaggernauth and was run-out.
Simmons batted for 116 minutes and 85 balls and struck six fours. He shared in a second-wicket partnership of 97 in 116 minutes with Ramdass.
In-between, Ramdass reached 50 with a single through mid-off from Marlon Black’s bowling. His landmark came off 94 balls in 178 minutes and contained three fours.
The right-handed Ramdass stood firm as wickets tumbled around him as the diligent attack of Jaggernauth and Reyad Emrit started to make inroads in the opposition’s middle-order.
Jaggernauth claimed the wickets of Danza Hyatt (15), Assad Fudadin (15), and Gregory Mahabir (2) with a probing and intelligent spell of bowling.
At tea, the Windies-B were precariously placed on 173 for five.
After the interval, Emrit accounted for Kenroy Williams (1), Bennett (4) to leave the Windies-B on 204 for nine.
Ramdass, a mixture of defence and aggression, was caught at mid-off nine short of a maiden century at this level.
He batted for 266 minutes, faced 147 balls and hit five fours and one six.
T&T were frustrated by a defiant last-wicket stand of 34 between Anderson Sealy (26 not out) and Washington (15) that ended when Washington was run-out.
Jaggernauth was the pick of the T&T bowling with four for 76, supported by Emrit (3-39).
Left with 11 overs batting, Bennett struck with the fifth and sixth balls of his first over and second of the innings, when he had Jan (5) brilliantly caught by Fudadin at gully, and debutant Kenton Thompson leg-before-wicket to leave T&T on five for two.
More disaster followed when the in-form Tishan Maraj, who opened the batting, was run-out -- for seven -- attempting a second run and failed to beat Williams’ throw from midwicket, leaving the home side on 18 for three. (CMC)
WEST INDIES B 1st innings
R.Ramdass c Krishna b Emrit 91
J.Haynes run-out 0
L.Simmons run-out 59
D.Hyatt c wkp. Mohammed b Jaggernauth 15
A.Fudadin stp. Mohammed b Jaggernauth 15
G.Mahabir c Thompson b Jaggernauth 2
K.Williams b Emrit 1
D.Ramdin c Mohammed b Emrit 6
A.Sealy not out 26
J.Bennett c Jan b Jaggernauth 4
D.Washington run-out 15
Extras: (lb-1, w-3) 4
Total: (all out) 238
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-99, 3-146, 4-171, 5-173, 6-184, 7-191, 8-192, 9-204.
Bowling: Black 13-2-35-0, Emrit 16-3-39-3 (w-2), Bravo 11-1-42-0 (w-1), Krishna 14-3-34-0, Jaggernauth 19.1-3-76-4, Jan 3-1-11-0.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 1st innings
I.Jan c Fudadin b Bennett 5
R.Maraj run-out 7
K.Thompson lbw Bennett 0
D.Bravo not out 10
A.Kanhai not out 1
Extras: (nb-1) 1
Total: (for 3 wickets) 24
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-5, 3-18.
Bowling: Washington 4-0-14-0, Bennett 3-1-10-2 (nb-1).