NAIN, St. Elizabeth, (CMC) - Pacer Andrew Richardson and debutant leg-spinner Odean Brown picked up four wickets each and gave resurgent Jamaica a winning chance against Trinidad and Tobago on the third day of their sixth round Carib Beer Series match at the Alpart Sports Club yesterday.
Trailing by 82 runs on first innings, the Jamaican bowlers routed T&T’s second innings for 182 and, boldly chasing a 265-run victory target, closed at 97 for one.
Donovan Pagon (38) and Maurice Kepple (33) played steadily to the close and Jamaica need a further 168 runs to secure a victory on today’s final day of this crucial match.
Jamaica won the vital morning battle when the visitors struggled in moving their score in the first session from an overnight 76 for one to 133 for four.
Sherwin Ganga failed to add to his overnight score of 26 when he was trapped -- on the back foot - leg-before-wicket by Richardson.
Dwayne Bravo, who entered the sixth round as the tournament’s most prolific scorer (455 runs), endured his second failure of the game when he was bowled by Jamaica captain Gareth Breese, after looking comfortable.
The talented right-hander, who failed to score in the first innings, missed as he charged at the off-spinner and was bowled for 14 at 107 for three.
First innings century-maker Aneil Kanhai fell next, to a brilliant catch by substitute fielder Keith Hibbert that gave Brown his first wicket at this level.
Hibbert, on the field for injured Jerome Taylor (back problems), flung himself to his left and clutched a superb one-handed bat/pad catch at forward short leg when the left-handed Kanhai pushed forward.
Test batsman Daren Ganga played solidly during the session and reached his 25th first-class fifty with a trademark textbook cover drive for four off seamer Dave Bernard.
T&T, lying second in the standings behind champion Barbados, offered little resistance after the lunch break and lost their last six wickets for the addition of only 49 runs, as Richardson and Brown combined to wreck the lower half of their innings for third-positioned Jamaica.
Extracting good bounce and turn from the pitch, Brown removed Shazam Babwah while Richardson sent back Ganga and Rayad Emrit in the space of six runs.
Fielding at point, Pagon caught Babwah, who miscued a drive and departed for 15 at 158 for five, then Ganga’s attempted drive flew to Brenton Parchment at backward point, and Emrit (0) edged for wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh to clutch a smart diving catch at 164 for seven.
Ganga made 77 in 221 minutes off 224 balls, with eight boundaries.
Bernard snatched a fine catch diving forward at mid-wicket to remove Gibran Mohammed (6) who did not connect properly on a drive against Brown, and tail-enders Marlon Black and Amit Jaggernauth could not prevent the sharp decline.
Black (8) was caught by Parchment at first slip off Richardson, and Brown bowled Jaggernauth (5) as the number 10 batsmen swung across the line.
Richardson, a former West Indies youth pacer, finished with tidy figures of four for 35 off 13 overs with five maidens, and Brown collected four for 50 off 20.2 overs with four maidens.
The other wicket-takers were Breese, with tight figures of one for 32 off 21 overs with six maidens, and Bernard, one for 25 off 13 overs with five maidens.
When Jamaica started their run-chase, they lost Parchment (16), bowled by Bravo (1-12) with 37 runs on the board.
But Pagon and Kepple registered an unfinished 60-run second-wicket partnership that has lifted Jamaica’s hopes for their second win this season, as both teams tussle to confirm top four spots -- behind runaway champions Barbados -- to qualify for the Carib Beer International Challenge play-off.
The stodgy Kepple, stroking two boundaries so far, has faced 126 balls, and Pagon, prolific with the square-drive, has counted seven boundaries off 104 balls.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 2nd innings (overnight 76 for 1)
D.Ganga c Parchment b Richardson 77
E.Ryan lbw Bernard 6
S.Ganga lbw Richardson 26
D.Bravo b Breese 14
A.Kanhai c sub. (Hibbert) b Brown 8
S.Babwah c Pagon b Brown 15
G.Mohammed c Bernard b Brown 6
R.Emrit c wkp. Baugh b Richardson 0
M.Black c Parchment b Richardson 8
A.Jaggernauth b Brown 5
T.Modeste not out 0
Extras: (b-8, lb-1, w-2, nb-6) 17
Total: (all out - 85.2 overs) 182
Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-78, 3-107, 4-129, 5-158, 6-160, 7-164, 8-173, 9-178.
Bowling: Richardson 16-5-35-4 (w-1, nb-5), Mais 10-5-16-0 (nb-1), Taylor 3-0-12-0, Bernard 13-5-25-1, Breese 21-6-32-1 (w-1), Brown 20.2-4-50-4, Parchment 2-0-3-0.