Jaguars seamers route Pride for 174 on opening day

CWI/PCL Regional 4-Day tournament…

Story and Photos by Brandon Corlette

At the end of the first day in the eighth-round match of the West Indies 4-Day Championships being played between the Guyana Jaguars and the Barbados Pride at the National Stadium at Providence, the Jaguars had taken honours in restricting the Pride to 179-9 in this day/night pink ball match.

Keemo Paul led the collective bowling effort with 3-61, while Raymon Reifer and Romario Shepherd each bagged two wickets; but, at stumps, the Jaguars were 19-2, trailing the Pride by 160 runs.
Shimron Hetmyer showed grit and determination to survive the day on an unbeaten 10, after he had an early chance put down off the bowling of Kemar Roach at second slip.

Pride had won the toss and elected to bat. With four slips and a gully, West Indies seamers Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd had steamed in with such purpose, and had extracted such good bounce and carry that one might have been excused for momentarily believing that Shepherd and Paul were bowling at Perth; but that carry lasted only at the inception.
In Shepherd’s first over of the match, as he bowled from the media centre end, he sent the left-handed opener Shayne Mosely back for a duck, dislodging the bails with the Pride score at 0-1; and Test batsman Shamarh Brooks, who looked solid for a brief moment, was trapped in front by a lively Paul, who got the new pink ball moving around, and he departed the crease at 19-2.
But Test opener Kraigg Brathwaite and Jonathan Carter hit the rebuild mode, with Brathwaite — who survived some dropped chances through the Jaguars’ negligence — surviving to 25 while Carter contributed 27 as the Pride score reached 63-2 at the lunch break.

When the second session resumed, Carter failed to add to his tally, being drawn into the honey and then being sharply stumped by Anthony Bramble off the bowling of Kevin Sinclair; his departure ending a 44-run third wicket stand. West Indies Test wicket-keeper batsman Shane Dowrich then came to the crease, and he ignited the Stadium with its 40+ spectators. Dowrich was at his fluent best while Brathwaite was very selective in his stroke-play. However, peppered by some Shepherd short balls, Dowrich was struck on his chin after fending off some, and he retired hurt on 25.
Leading run-scorer Kyle Mayers partnered Brathwaite, and the duo kept the score ticking as the sun began to set at Providence. Paul used the short ball ploy against Brathwaite, but the Test opener looked comfortable on the slow wicket.
Raymon Reifer, who was probing away, hitting consistent line and length, trapped Brathwaite at the crease for 48, to adjust the Pride’s score to 128-4. The solid Brathwaite thus departed the crease after occupying same for 202 minutes, during which he had faced 171 balls and had hit five fours.

Mayers then became another of Paul’s scalps when he was trapped at the crease for 17 with the Pride’s score on 134-5. In an eventful session, Pride reached 143-5 in 62 overs at tea. This session produced 80 runs and three wickets, with heaps of dropped catches.
A fiery Reifer then accounted for Holder, destroying his furniture for 11, with the score at 154-6. Jaguars had their tails up, but Ashley Nurse struck Paul for a maximum, followed by a pull-shot into the boundary. Nurse’s cameo of 11 concluded when Paul rattled his stumps at 159-7.
Jomel Warrican followed Nurse into the pavilion after edging a Shepherd delivery to Bramble, causing the Pride to slip further to 159-8; and the Jaguars finally closed the Pride innings on 179-9 made in 74.1 overs.
Paul ended with 3-61 in 17 overs, while Shepherd had 2-15 and Reifer claimed 2-19. The innings closed with nine wickets, since Dowrich was taken to the hospital for scans after sustaining a blow from a Shepherd delivery.
Jaguars openers Shimron Hetmyer and Tagenarine Chanderpaul had to survive 13 overs. Chanderpaul was caught behind for six off Roach at 16-1 in the ninth over, and ‘night watchman’ Sinclair had a short stay at the crease before being dismissed by Test captain Jason Holder. He scored only three runs, as the Jaguars were reduced to 19-2.
The Jaguars will resume the second day trailing by 160 runs, but with Hetmyer and Johnson at the crease. The first ball is expected to be bowled at 14:00h.