T&T under pressure from the Lions

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad & Tobago failed to tame the England Lions and conceded first innings points to the invitational side in the WICB Regional first-class championship yesterday.

Runako Morton

Opener Jimmy Adams then hit 66 and Andrew Gale scored 55, as the Lions reached 185 for four in their second innings for an overall lead of 227 at the close on the third day of their third round match at Queen’s Park Oval.

Leg-spinner Imran Khan has taken two wickets for 23 runs from nine overs to try to keep T&T in the game, after they collapsed for 283 about 20 minutes after lunch to concede a first innings lead of 42 to the Lions.

Runako Morton led the way for the home team with 54, Daren Ganga supported with 47, and Sherwin Ganga made 28.

Jade Dernbach continued his impressive bowling in the competition with four for 44 from 22 overs, while teenaged left-arm spinner Danny Briggs, Liam Plunkett, and leg-spinner Adil Rashid collected two wickets apiece.

Batting a second time, the Lions were given a good launching pad, with Adams featuring in two significant stands.

He put on 73 for the first wicket with Adam Lyth, who Dave Mohammed bowled for 29, and added 84 for the second wicket with Gale before Khan had him stumped. He batted 164 minutes, faced 142 balls, and struck nine boundaries.

Khan’s dismissal of Adams triggered a mini-collapse that saw the Lions lose three wickets for nine runs in the space of 19 deliveries inside the last half-hour.

The leg-spinner also removed Gale, whose 59-ball innings lasting 77 minutes included six fours and one six, and Amit Jaggernauth snared Lions captain James Hildreth for five.

Earlier, T&T lost the key scalps of Morton and captain Ganga in the first hour, after the home team resumed on their overnight total of 173 for two.

The pair addd 66 for the third wicket before Morton was lbw to Dernbach shortly after reaching his 50. He struck five fours and two sixes from 148 balls and batted for close close to three hours.

After T&T crossed the 200-run threshold, Rashid claimed Ganga with a close-to-the-wicket catch to leave T&T on 202 for four.

Dernbach removed Denesh Ramdin for 19 and Khan for eight, as T&T continued to bleed wickets, and slumped to 261 for seven at lunch before Plunkett returned after the interval to mop-up tail.

Both sides entered the contest with 18 points – the same as Jamaica – but the Lions are the actual tournament leaders, with T&T second by virtue of the tie-breaker rules for the competition.