By Calvin Roberts
@ Cable and Wireless/BET
GroundWildey,
St. MichaelBarbados
Compliments of: Ansa Mc Al Limited, Cummings Electrical, Lifetime Realty, P&P Insurance, Cellular Plus and Hanes (Guyana) Limited
As was the case on the first day where the entire pre-lunch session was lost, rain again had the final say on the final day of the third round fixture in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)/TCL-sponsored 2008 Regional Under-19 match between Guyana and Barbados at the Cable and Wireless/BET ground, Wildey yesterday.
With only six overs being bowled on the day, Guyana, who resumed on 35-2, reached 46-2 replying to Barbados’s 300-8 declared when the clouds opened up at 10:19am forcing the players off the field.
Scores Barbados 300-8 declared, Guyana 46-2.
Prior to the rain stoppage which resulted in 210 minutes lost before the game was called off by the umpires, the overnight batsmen, Jeetendra Sookdeo and Herman Latcha, batted cautiously in overcast conditions as they added 11 more runs to their team’s score.
Latcha, who was not out on six, had steered a delivery from fast bowler Jason Holder through the slip cordon and down to third man for four – the final run-scoring shot of the day – whilst Sookdeo got in a wonderful front foot drive through the cover region off the bowling of Roston Chase for a couple.
But not even a delayed inspection from the umpires at 1:40pm was good enough as there were still wet areas visible that was of some concern to the men in black and white and with heavy clouds threatening overhead from the tropical depression that was forecast for the day, the match was called off at 2.30pm.
With the four points gained, Guyana, who are the defending champions have moved to 28 points whilst Barbados are on 22 points.
Guyana will oppose Jamaica in the next round which starts on Saturday while Barbados will play the Leeward Islands.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s coach Hubern Evans said yesterday that he was happy with the outcome of the game even though he was looking to get first innings points.
“I am happy with the outcome even though I was looking to get first innings points to further cement our position at the top. I am satisfied with the team’s effort in this game as well as the result as it has helped us to further maintain the six-point advantage we entered this game with over the Barbadians.”
His counterpart, Dexter Toppin, was not so pleased, especially after seeing his batsmen accumulate 300 runs in their first innings.
“When you score 300 runs, it is either you get a win or win first innings and, after seeing the weather hamper the first day, our best chance was to get first innings, but the weather in which we have no control over interrupted our plans. The only thing I can do now is keep the guys focussed as we still have two more games to go and we can come out victorious in them.”
