By Clifton Ross
A berserk innings of 95 from Ricardo Adams took Essequibo within a sniff of victory, their needing 38 runs heading into the final day against Georgetown as day two of round four of the GCB/Jaguars 3-Day League ended at the Tuschen Ground.
Needing 193 to beat the Georgetown side, Essequibo, in the presence of a supportive crowd, ended their second innings on 155-5 after being reduced to 40-5, thanks mainly to Chris Barnwell’s 4-37 which knocked the wind out of their sails on Saturday.
The left-handed Adams was brutal during his innings, which headlined a pretty exciting pummeling of the bowling around the ground and even in a few yards nearby.
Mark Williams supported Adams well with his knock of 33, and the pair will look to wrap up a resounding come-from-behind win with an entire day’s play left.
After being knocked over for 117 first, Georgetown finished their second innings on 245-10, thanks mainly to a classy knock of 91 from Captain Leon Johnson and a brisk 48 from Barnwell (3×4, 3×6). Spin was the weapon of choice for the Essequibo side, and they were indebted to their slower bowlers: Akini Adams (3-40), Ricardo Adams (3-82) and Chaitram Persaud (1-10), who hogged the majority of wickets to fall.
The Essequibo chase began in nightmare fashion, with Barnwell uprooting the stumps of Parmesh Parsotam for duck before hitting timber again when he knocked over Kevon Boodie (04).
Adams came to the middle with the score on 15-2, teaming up with leading run-scorer Kemol Savory (07).
Barnwell, who sliced through a hapless looking Essequibo top-order, was aggressive during his opening spell, finding a bit of shape which he used perfectly to bag his other two scalps — Keemo Paul (03) and Persaud (00), who were both caught in the slip cordon.
Adams hit the first six of his team’s second innings, but followed up with a number of clean blows, taking a liking to Barnwell, who was bullied for a four and two sixes in one of his overs. Williams lent ideal support as he also found the ropes a few times, while Adams surged to his half-century with a four off the off-spinner Ramaal Lewis, as the duo steadied the ship until stumps.
Earlier, the overnight pair of Raymond Perez and Robin Bacchus failed to significantly add to their respective scores of 13 and 00. Perez was stylish during his innings, hitting five fours before Adams knocked him over for 24. The dismissal of Bacchus followed; he was unable to come off the mark.
Johnson dug in following the departure of his openers, and forged an attacking partnership with Barnwell, who launched a counter-attack against the Essequibo bowlers. Barnwell seemed to be in T20 mode, as he muscled a number a boundaries before having his stumps disturbed by Keemo Paul, breaking the 54-run partnership.
At 97-3, the Georgetown skipper, despite losing the aggressive Barnwell, was looking fluent as he mixed his innings with finesse and power, hammering his opposite number, Anthony Adams, for a six over mid-wicket to raise his 50.
Wickets continued to fall around Johnson, with Ovid Richardson (04) falling LBW to Paul, who ended with two wickets; while Sunil Singh (10) and Dexter Solomon (23) fell victim to off-spinner Persaud.
The Jamaican Lewis hung around for a short time before he was cleaned up by spinner Akini Adams.
Georgetown’s lead went past 160 as tea approached, with Steven Sankar partnering with Johnson who took his score into the 80s. However, it was some brotherly magic from the Adams boys, Akini the bowler and Anthony the catcher at short mid-wicket, which accounted for Johnson’s demise.
When Sankar hit Akini Adams down the throat of Persaud in the deep, falling for a good-looking 25, the innings ended at the stroke of tea when Gajanan Suknanan was trapped lbw by Adams.
The intense battle will resume today at 09:30 hrs
