Devendra Bishoo’s four wickets yesterday gave the National side a 45-run lead against the Rest XI as they head into their third day of play in the four-day warm-up match at the Providence stadium.
Resuming on their overnight score of 11 for 1, the Rest XI who were trailing by 192-runs were eventually skittled out for 200 in 59.1 overs; despite courageous knocks from top scorer Ricardo Adams who struck two fours and three sixes in his 46.
He was supported by useful contributions from Rajiv Ivan (31) who struck two fours and a six, Royston Crandon (34) and wicket-keeper Jason Sinclair who chipped in with a vital 21 down the order. Bishoo was destructive during his spells ending with figures of 4 for 38 from 13 overs, taking flight and turn to bamboozle the Rest XI batters. Test spinner Veerasammy Permaul picked up 2 for 57, Chris Barnwell 2 for 12 and a wicket each from pacers Ronsford Beaton and Keon Joseph, completed a cohesive bowling effort.
At stumps the National team were well placed on 42 for 1 with top-scorer from the first innings Assad Fudadin unbeaten on 21 and skipper Leon Johnson on 5. Fast-bowler Raun Johnson picked up the wicket of opener Sewnarine Chattergoon who was bowled for 6.
Earlier, the number 13 was significant with three of the Rest XI batters who were all removed for that similar score. Robin Bacchus (13) only managed to add 9 runs to his overnight score before he was removed by Barnwell.
Rajendra Chandrika (13) was also nabbed by Barnwell, while the hard-hitting Jonathan Foo (13) was dismissed by his fellow Berbician Joseph. Ivan, who recently returned from Trinidad and Tobago where he was amongst the runs, played well and looked set for a big score before he was caught by Vishal Singh off the bowling of Permaul.
Crandon and Adams batted well as a pair and looked to rotate the strike while putting away the bad balls. They added 47-runs for the 7th wicket before Bishoo struck removing Crandon lbw. Zaheer Mohamed (4) was also removed by Bishoo, who went on to terminate Adams and Steven Sankar (0).
Sinclair managed three boundaries and played positively but was expertly caught by the skipper off Permaul’s bowling, leaving Johnson stranded, yet to come off the mark and his team facing a deficit of three runs.
The National XI’s second innings saw Chattergoon being removed early, leaving Fudadin who was yet again in his zone hitting two classy fours, to progress along the innings with his skipper as they seek to pile on the runs.
Action continues today at 9.30am.
