Jaguars collapse to shock defeat

– Dwayne Smith takes 5-17

Barbados Pride all-rounder Dwayne Smith yesterday produced a Man-of-the-match bowling performance of 5-17 which inspired a stunning come-from-behind two-run win over the Guyana Jaguars who collapsed for 66 in their pursuit of a 69-run target.

The few who turned up for the final day of the WICB Professional Cricket League four-day match played at the Guyana National Stadium would have been stunned as they would have been expecting an easy Guyana win.

Instead, chasing a mediocre total for what would have been their third straight win at home after bowling out the Pride for 228 in the second innings, the Jaguars were dismal in their batting. They paid a hefty penalty for their complacency after the Bajan bowlers led by Smith’s 5-for, Ryan Hinds (2-21), skipper Carlos Brathwaite (1-2), Johnathan Carter (2-3) ran roughshod over Guyana in 29.1 overs before lunch at Providence.

Man-of-the-match Dwayne Smith celebrates the final wicket of Devendra Bishoo
Man-of-the-match Dwayne Smith celebrates the final wicket of Devendra Bishoo

Opener Rajendra Chandrika set the tone with a brisk 30 as he accounted for nearly half of the Jaguars’ total while Trevon Griffith (1), Shimron Hetmyer (00), Narsingh Deonarine (00), skipper Vishaul Singh (00), Raymon Reifer (11), Chris Barnwell (12) and Anthony Bramble (03) told the story of an irresponsible approach by an experienced batting department.

The shots, the tempo and the approach were dreadful for a team which seemed to be on top of the match, top of the table and top of their form in all departments during the first two rounds. The batsmen were clearly complacent in their approach to a low total which seemed eminently attainable but the Bajan bowlers and the captaincy of Brathwaite were on point as they were clearly determined not to go down without a fight.

An eventful morning witnessed the foursome of Smith, Hinds, Carter and Brathwaite laying the groundwork for the dramatic come-from-behind win as they ripped out the heart and soul of the Guyana batting order in the worst batting display seen in years from the local side.

The Barbados team celebrate after keeping their “Pride” in their two-run win over Guyana
The Barbados team celebrate after keeping their “Pride” in their two-run win over Guyana

After losing Griffith, Hetmyer, Deonarine, Singh and Reifer, Chandrika remained solid along with Bramble as the pair sought to dig their heels in from the parlous state of 5-34 and to edge towards the victory target. However, things got worse for the Jaguars when Chandrika was caught by Romel Warrican off Carter who then snared his second wicket when he had Barnwell easily caught and bowled leaving the score at 57-8.

The spins twins Devendra Bishoo (03) and Veerasammy Permaul (06) were tasked with bringing the game home but that plan too backfired when Permaul was caught by Dowrich off Smith who wrapped up things in nail-biting fashion after Bishoo induced an edge which was tightly held onto by wicket-keeper Dowrich leaving Ronsford Beaton stranded on duck. The entire Barbados team rushed onto the field to celebrate with their hero Smith.

Permaul, the leading wicket-taker in this year’s tournament thus far with 28 wickets ended with overall figures of 12-101, his second consecutive 10-wicket haul.

The left-arm spinner bagged 8-26 to help shoot out Barbados for a first innings total of 101 before returning to collect 4-75 along with Bishoo (4-65), the two were clinical in Barbados being routed for a second innings 228 after the follow on was enforced by the Jaguars.

Ryan Hinds, who picked up four wickets to help restrict Guyana to their first innings of 261 returned to score a defiant 68 in the Barbados second innings while Shane Dowrich chipped in with 50, sharing a crucial 94-run partnership which set the foundation for their team’s eventual win.

Earlier yesterday, the Pride resumed their innings on 214-7 with a lead of 54 with Hinds unbeaten on 60 and Nurse on 9. Hinds managed to add 8 more runs to his score before Barnwell had him caught by Ronsford Beaton while Permaul made light work of the tail-enders, Nurse (12) and Romel Warrican (00), leaving Cummins stranded on nought as the Pride were shot out inside the first half hour of the morning.

 Scorecard

Guyana Jaguars 1st innings 261

Barbados Pride 1st Innings 101

Barbados Pride 2nd Innings (O/night 214 for 7)

K Corbin c Hetmyer b Permaul 35

O Philips lbw b Barnwell 11

S Hope c&b Bishoo 09

J Carter lbw b Bishoo 06

D Smith lbw b Bishoo 10

R Hinds c Beaton b Barnwell 68

S Dowrich c Chandrika b Bishoo 50

C Brathwaite lbw b Permaul 14

A Nurse c Singh b Permaul 12

J Warrican lbw b Permaul 00

M Cummins not out 00

Extras (w-1, nb-5, b-7) 13

Total: (all out off 74.5 overs) 228

Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Philips, 8.5), 2-58 (Corbin, 17.2), 3-58 (Hope (18.3), 4-69 (Carter, 20.4), 5-76 (22.3), 6-171 (Dowrich, 56.4), 7-196 (Brathwaite, 63.2), 8-228 (Nurse, 73.4), 9-228 (Warrican, 73.5), 10-228 (Hinds, 74.5)

Bowling: Beaton 8-1-21-0 (w-1, nb-1) Permaul 26-4-75-4, Barnwell 9.5-2-21-2, Reifer 8-1-30, Bishoo20-3-65-4 (nb-4), Deonarine 2-0-9-0 Griffith 1-1-0-0

 Guyana Jaguars 2nd Innings

R Chandrika c Warrican b Carter 30

T Griffith c Philips b Smith 01

S Hetmyer c Carter b Hinds 00

N Deonarine lbw b Hinds 00

V Singh b Smith 00

R Reifer c Carter b Brathwaite 11

C Barnwell c&b Carter 12

A Bramble c Nurse b Smith 03

V Permaul lbw Smith 06

D Bishoo c wkpr Dowrich b Smith 03

R Beaton not out 00

Extras (lb-1)

Total (all out 29.1 overs) 66

Fall of wickets:  1-2 (Griffith, 1.5), 2-3 (Hetmyer, 2.4), 3-9 (Deonarine, 4.5), 4-10 (Singh, 5.4), 5-34 (Reifer13.2), 6-50 (Chandrika, 20.2), 7-57 (Barnwell, 22.5), 8-58 (Bramble, 23.4), 9-65 (27.5), 10-66 (Bishoo, 29.1)

Bowling: Hinds 7-2-21-2, Smith 10.1-3-17-5, Brathwaite 4-3-2-1, Warrican 2-0-12-0, Carter 6-1-13-2