Crandon’s after-effect; Jaguars suffer 2nd successive defeat this season – Red Force snatch 93-run win in 3 days

2018-2019 Regional 4-Day Tournament…

By Brandon Corlette

With the West Indies torturing England under new-coaching staff and rejuvenated players, the Guyana Jaguars have lost their second match this season. After the former Jaguars head Coach Esuan Crandon left and took up Windies assistant coach duties, perhaps he took the Jaguars’ winning spree with him. In the match played at Queens Park Oval, the Jaguars lost inside three days, chasing 276 runs to win.
Romario Shepherd scored 50 but it proved insufficient for the Guyanese team, as they were bowled out for 182 in 67.3 overs. Earlier, Jaguars bowled out the Red Force for 317 in the second innings. Keemo Paul and Raymon Reifer grabbed four wickets each after the 89-run partnership between Imran Khan and Jason Mohammed was broken.
The first run of the morning came from the bat of Jason Mohammed who took his overnight score of 79, to 83. Keemo Paul and Raymon Reifer began proceedings with the ball for the Jaguars. After some disciplined bowling, Paul removed Mohammed in the third over of the morning. Mohammed was out leg before to Paul for 83 from 204 balls including nine fours, adding only four runs to his overnight score.
At 270-6, Odean Smith partnered with Imran Khan and the duo only managed to add 15 runs together. Paul and Reifer continued to bowl in tandem, with Reifer removing Khan for 46 from 103 balls. After hitting four boundaries, Khan was out caught by Leon Johnson with the Red Force score on 285-7 in 103.5 overs.
The wickets came in bulk for the Jaguars as Red Force crossed the 300-run barrier – Bryan Charles was removed for five by the impressive Keemo Paul. Charles was out caught by Tagenarine Chanderpaul with the score on 303-8. The Jamaican Red Force franchise player, Odean Smith struck a counter-attacking 27 from 23 balls after his stumps were shattered by Paul at 315-9.
Two runs later, Reifer wrapped up the innings trapping number 10 batsman Anderson Phillip leg before for two. In 109.1 overs the Red Force 2nd innings concluded after scoring 317 runs with a lead of 275 runs. Raymond Reifer ended with figures of 4-64 in 19.1 overs and Keemo Paul grabbed 4-81 in 24 overs as Jaguars required 276 runs to win.
The defending champions fancied their chances to chase a target of 276 runs with one day and approximately two sessions remaining. Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Chandrapaul Hemraj went out to bat and negotiated the first 11 overs scoring 29-0 at the lunch interval. Hemraj was unbeaten on 20 from 27 balls, while Chanderpaul was on nine from 39 balls.
In the afternoon session, fast bowler Smith produced a ripper and found the edge of Hemraj but Denesh Ramdin spilled the opportunity. After Hemraj was dropped on 23, Odean Smith continued to ruffle the batsman’s feathers; Smith bowled a ripper to Hemraj and the ball passed between Hemraj’s bat and hips. Red Force appealed and the ball missed the bat but Hemraj was given out for a 46-ball 30 decorated with three boundaries.
After umpire Jacqueline Williams raised her finger, Hemraj expressed his disappointment but the decision remained final. That brought Johnson at the crease with the score on 44-1 after 16.1 overs. Another Jaguars setback came in the 31st over when Chanderpaul was trapped in front from a full-length delivery from Ravi Rampaul. Chanderpaul failed after scoring 19 from 94 balls facing 86 dot balls.
Jaguars were 61-2 in 30.5 overs when Vishaul Singh came to bat but his stay was a brief one; he was out for a nine-ball duck. Singh was pushing at a turning Bryan Charles and was brilliantly caught at silly mid-on by Jeremy Solozano, with the score on 62-3. Johnson ended on 21 from 84 balls while Reifer scored five as Jaguars entered tea at 79-3 after 43 overs.
Requiring 197 runs to win and seven wickets intact and with four sessions remaining in the game, the match was evenly poised. Two balls into the final session on day three, Leon Johnson attempted a drive but edged the delivery to first slip after scoring a disappointing 21. Johnson was out caught by Joshua Da Silva who completed a smart catch to remove Jaguars captain off Bryan Charles.
Jaguars were on the back foot at 79-4 when Johnson departed; two runs later another wicket fell for Jaguars. Raymond Reifer was out for five when he edged an Anderson Phillip delivery into Ramdin’s gloves. The game further slipped from the Jaguars as Bramble attempted to sweep a straight full delivery from Imran Khan and was out leg before for three. Jaguars lost five wickets for 28 runs after a solid start; the batsmen played some poor shots.
At 89-6 in 47.4 overs, it then became a tall ask for the all-rounders in Romario Shepherd and Keemo Paul at the crease, requiring 187 runs with four wickets remaining at that stage in the match. The leg-spinner Imran Khan tossed a delivery and Paul went after the ball, hitting the ball into the air and was out caught. Phillip completed a smart catch running 10 meters to his right as Paul departed for 19 from 20 balls including one four and one six.
Red Force was in the driver’s seat when Paul departed with the score on 121-7; wickets continued to fall as Pestano was trapped in front by Smith for two. At 136-8 Shepherd was standing tall but Phillip removed the Jaguars number 10, Permaul for nine. Red Force was inching closer to victory with the score on 160-9. Shepherd’s breezy inning came to an end when he scored his third First-class half-century. He was out leg before to Khan for 50 from 58 balls after hitting seven fours and one six.
It was all celebrations for the Red Force when the final Jaguars wicket fall as the match ended in three days. Guyana Jaguars will play their next match from Thursday February 7 at the National Stadium Providence against the Jamaica Scorpions.