NAIN, St. Elizabeth, (CMC) - Seamer Reyad Emrit and off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth shared six wickets and propelled Trinidad and Tobago to first innings honours and command of their key sixth round Carib Beer Series match against Jamaica at the Alpart Sports Club yesterday.
Responding to Trinidad and Tobago’s first innings score of 229, Jamaica tumbled to 147 all out, and the visitors consolidated their position to close the second day’s play on 76 for one.
Test batsman Daren Ganga (39) and his younger brother Sherwin Ganga (26) have so far added 48 runs for the second wicket to give second-placed Trinidad and Tobago a healthy overall lead of 158 over the third-positioned Jamaicans.
The Ganga brothers both gave chances before the close but otherwise fended off the Jamaican attack admirably after their team had secured an 82-run first innings advantage.
Daren Ganga and Earnil Ryan posted a 28-run first-wicket stand that ended when Ryan (6) was trapped-leg-before wicket by seamer Dave Bernard (1-15).
Daren, who recently returned to the Caribbean from the West Indies tour of South Africa, survived a sharp chance on seven when 19-year-old West Indies pacer Jerome Taylor failed to hold a testing return catch.
Sherwin gave an easier catch on 11 but Tamar Lambert -- at silly mid-off -- failed to clutch the chance off wrist-spinner Odean Brown.
Daren has so far struck four boundaries in his knock.
The Jamaican bowling has been generally tight, with captain Gareth Breese setting the example and ending the day with figures of none for 13 off 11 overs with three maidens.
Earlier, the Jamaicans -- from an overnight nine without loss -- had made a steady start before medium pacer Dwayne Bravo (2-30) struck two quick blows and triggered a rapid decline in their top-order from 40 without loss to 69 for four.
Bravo, a talented 20-year-old batting all-rounder, first sent back Maurice Kepple for eight at 40 for one.
The right-hander was caught behind down the leg side by a diving Gibran Mohammed as he attempted to flick a short delivery.
Bravo’s pitched-up delivery dislodged Brenton Parchment (32) seven runs later, the former West Indies youth captain caught at gully by Shazam Babwah going for the drive.
Jamaica slid into more trouble when Lambert and Donovan Pagon departed cheaply.
Lambert (5) chased a wide delivery from Emrit, and Jaggernauth bowled Pagon two balls before the lunch break.
Pagon, the second-most prolific scorer -- behind Australian Cameron White -- at the 2002 Youth World Cup in New Zealand, missed a rash -looking drive against the off-spinner and was bowled for seven as Jamaica ended the session on 69 for four.
The slide continued after the lunch break and the home side eventually folded during extended time in the post-lunch play because they were nine wickets down at the scheduled teatime of 2.40 p.m.
Jamaica had added only one run after the lunch break when Carlton Baugh was run-out without scoring.
The West Indies reserve wicketkeeper darted off for a non-existent single when Bernard stroked the ball to short mid-wicket, from where substitute fielder Rodney Sooklal collected the ball and beat Baugh’s recovery effort with a direct hit at the non-striker’s end.
It became 89 for six when Breese (9) missed a sweep shot against the impressive Jaggernauth and was bowled.
Ten runs later, Bernard, driving loosely at Emrit, was bowled off the inside edge to end a promising innings of 24 that included four boundaries.
Taylor (4) came in and lashed Emrit to the long-off boundary but was given out next ball after his attempted hook gave a lobbed catch to wicketkeeper Mohammed.
Debutant Odean Brown (7) was caught at slip by Bravo cutting at Jaggernauth at 127 for nine, and Andrew Richardson linked up in a 20-run last-wicket partnership with Dwight Mais that ended when pacer Marlon Black had Mais caught behind for two.
Richardson smashed 31 not out off 48 balls with three fours and a couple of sixes -- one off Aneil Kanhai over long-on, and the other off Jaggernauth over mid-wicket that rendered the ball lost.
Emrit finished with the very tidy figures of three for 24 off 11 overs, and Jaggernauth was also solid with three for 36 off 16.2 overs.
Pacer Theodore Modeste hurt his hand while fielding and was off the field for most of the day.
The injury-hit T&T team even had their coach David Williams doing fielding duties for a short time yesterday.