National opener Krishna Arjune clawed his way to a resilient 130 which was not good enough as national right arm leg spinner Devendra Bishoo grabbed 4-15 to bowl out the Lance Gibbs Tigers for 242 at the end of the first day in their final round Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)/ President’s Cup match against the Rohan Kanhai Strikers at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground.
Arjune struck 17 fours from the 185 balls he faced while batting for 266 minutes.
His was the eighth wicket to fall at 236, as the Tigers failed to come to grips with the pace/spin combination employed by stand-in Strikers captain Assad Fudadin.
Earlier, Arjune and Maxie De Jonge who made 35 from 47 balls decorated with five fours and one six, added 113 for the first wicket before De Jonge went back to one from off spinner Steven Latcha and was adjudged lbw.
The Tigers, who like their opponents need an outright win to take the $200,000 first prize, then lost the wickets of Gajanand Singh (05), skipper Narsingh Deonarine (04) and Orin Forde (08) to be shakily placed on 147-4, as Ryan Hercules picked up 2-53.
But Arjune found a useful partner in national opener Royston Crandon, and together they added 68 runs for the fifth wicket.
They were hampered by a 41-minute break due to rain.
Arjune duly got to his century to ink his name in the selectors’ minds with two sweetly timed boundaries off the bowling of fast bowler Seon Daniels.
He had faced 160 balls and struck 17 fours while batting for 208 minutes. Even though he lost Crandon, who was bowled by a Bishoo googly at 215-5, Arjune continued to take the fight to the Strikers bowling, with some well-timed drives off national fast bowler Brendon Bess through the covers.
At the other end, Rakesh Goberdhan (00) and Anthony Bramble (00) were sent packing by Bishoo, who returned to remove Arjune in his next over, but not before he had added a further 30 runs from the next 25 deliveries he faced after passing the 100-run mark.
All told, Arjune batted for 266 minutes and struck 21 fours from the 185 balls he faced and when he was bowled off his pads by Bishoo, the Tigers scorecard showed they were 234-8.
But they were not permitted to stage any more recoveries by the Strikers.
Sauid Drepaul (02) lost his wicket via the run out route, when Kellon Carmichael (06) drove a delivery from Bess back to the bowler, who got some fingers onto the ball which hit the stumps with Drepaul short of the mark, while Carmichael went for an injudicious drive two balls later and was caught by wicketkeeper Darwin Christian.
The Strikers, who are missing skipper Sewnarine Chattergoon, nursing a hand injury, will begin their reply today and with rain threatening to interrupt proceedings at anytime, there is much to play for both teams who are looking for an outright win.
