ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Tagenarine Chanderpaul came of age on Sunday, when he completed his maiden first-class hundred for newly-crowned champions Guyana Jaguars, but they had to settle for a draw with Barbados Pride in the Regional 4-Day Championship.
The left-handed opener, son of legendary WINDIES left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who is a member of the Jaguars line-up for this match and was watching from the confines of the dressing room, reached his landmark from 275 balls, when he swung Jonathan Carter to deep mid-wicket for the last of his nine boundaries.
He finished unbeaten on 101 and on reaching the landmark prompted Jaguars captain Leon Johnson to declare about 50 minutes before lunch on the final day of the ninth-round match to give his side a little more than two sessions to try for a victory – but they were hamstrung by a hard, true Kensington Oval pitch and steady Pride batting.
Elsewhere, Test off-spinner Shane Shillingford was part of the Windward Islands Volcanoes attack that undermined the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force batting and sent them crashing to an innings and 38-run defeat at the Grenada National Stadium.
And, WINDIES “A” leg-spinner Damion Jacobs completed a career-best bowling performance to usher Jamaica Scorpions to a 57-run victory over Leeward Islands Hurricanes at Sabina Park.
Jaguars (297) & (263-5 dec) drew with Pride (199) & 208-4 in Bridgetown, Barbados
Chanderpaul shared 115 for the fifth wicket with Anthony Bramble, whose 78-ball innings of 74 in close to 2 ½ hours included four fours and five sixes.
Set a highly improbable victory target of 362 in a minimum of 73 overs, Pride batted solidly enough in their second innings before the match came to a close by mutual agreement.
West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite hit the top score of 54 for Pride, their captain Shamarh Brooks supported with 40, Shayne Moseley made 28, Roston Chase was not out on 23 and Carter added 20.
Brathwaite shared 60 with club-mate Moseley for the first wicket and put on 76 for the second wicket with Brooks, but Keemo Paul grabbed 2-76 from 16 overs to send a few shivers down their spines.
All two of Paul’s wickets were catches to stand-in keeper Vishaul Singh, who was deputising for the injured Bramble, and also held a top-edged catch down the leg-side to dismiss West Indies batsman Roston Chase off left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul.
Later on, there was such a shortage of personnel for the Jaguars that head coach Esuan Crandon, a former Guyana fast bowler, was required to take the field.
Pride fast bowler Chemar Holder was named Player-of-the-Match following figures of 5-57 and 3-72 on his first-class debut.
Volcanoes (366) beat Red Force (172) & (156, following on) by an innings and 38 runs in St. George’s, Grenada
Already following on 194 behind after weak batting in the first innings, Red Force needed a huge effort to avoid their third straight defeat, but it never came.
Resuming the final day on 93 for two and requiring a further 101 to avoid an innings defeat, Red Force were bowled out about 15 minutes after lunch.
They were ripped apart by Sherman Lewis with 3-20 from 10.4 overs and Shillingford with 3-52 from 35 overs, while left-arm spinner Larry Edward ended with 2-26 from 11 overs.
Opener Amir Jangoo, unbeaten on 58 overnight, added just 11 and no other batsman showed any enterprise – all failing to reach 20.
Volcanoes batsman Kavem Hodge was named Player-of-the-Match for his first-innings hundred – the second of his first-class career.
Volcanoes are not unbeaten in their last four matches, which has included a historic first-ever tie in the Championship (with Jaguars), two wins (over Scorpions and now Red Force) and a draw with Pride.
Scorpions (197) & (235) beat Hurricanes (171) & (204) by 57 runs in Kingston, Jamaica
Chasing 262 for victory, Leewards resumed the final day on 159 for six needing a further 103, but were dismissed on the stroke of the first hour of play.
Jacobs grabbed three of the four remaining Hurricanes wickets to end with 5-83 from 29.3 overs and finished with match figures of 12 for 157, making him a shoo-in for the Player-of-the-Match award.
Part-time off-spinner John Campbell, whose three quick wickets late on Saturday’s penultimate day turned the game in Scorpions’ favour, added another scalp to his column to finish with 4-40 from 18 overs.
Only Jeremiah Louis, with an unbeaten 34, offered any resistance as the last four Hurricanes wickets tumbled for 45 runs.
Making a ton against our quality of bowling is one thing. Doing it on the big stage is quite another.
do your thing Tangerine