After yet another shortened day at the Meten-Meer-Zorg Community Ground on the West Coast of Demerara, opener Sachin Singh’s return to form handed his side, Kevlon Anderson’s XI, a glimmer of hope yesterday after they conceded a 232-run first-inning lead to Kemol Savoury’s XI.
Seepage of water under the covers, for the second time in the match, robbed the sides of almost two sessions on the third day, with play getting under way at 2:00 p.m.
When play finally got underway, Savoury’s XI resumed their first inning on 311/9 with a lead of 214 runs, and final pair Anthony Adams and Taddeus Lovell had overnight scores of 1 and 3 not out, respectively.
The duo managed to frustrate Anderson XI’s bowlers for four more overs and add 19 more runs to the total before Lovell was bowled by speedster Nial Smith for 11 to end the innings at 329 with a lead of 232. Smith ended with figures of 2/59 (13 overs), while Veerasammy Permaul captured 3/56 (16 overs) to lead the bowling.
Staring at a formidable first-inning deficit, Anderson XI’s openers Sachin Singh and Rampertab Ramnauth dug deep in an effort to mirror Matthew Nandu and Raymond Perez’s efforts (82 and 93) for their opponents the previous day.
On a flat surface, Singh, who has had a horror run of form for the longest while, took advantage of the lifeless pitch to cash in almost immediately. He unleashed a well-timed four in just the fifth delivery that he faced and never looked back. While Singh was the aggressor in the partnership, Rampertab was much more subdued.
However, it would be the latter who fell first after putting on a welcome 90-run partnership with Singh. Rampertab’s innings, which spanned 77 minutes, saw him stroking five boundaries in his 41, falling short of a half-century. Rampertab fell caught off the bowling of medium pacer Leon Swamy.
After Rampertab fell, Brandon Jaikarran (1) and skipper Anderson (6) fell in quick succession; both were caught off Swamy to leave their side in a spot of bother at 105/3.
Despite the loss of quick wickets, Singh dug in and combined with under pressure Akshaya Persaud to put on 51 runs for the fourth wicket. Singh played some attractive shots during his innings of 81, showing his hitting power with four big sixes and seven fours before he was bowled by left-arm spinner Anthony Adams to leave Anderson’s XI at 156/4. Malcolm Hubbard replaced him and could only make three before he was bowled by Junior Sinclair.
By stumps, Persaud (24 not out, 4sx3) and Zachary Jodah (10 not out, 4sx1) had carried their side from 159/5 to 171 without further loss. Anderson’s XI will head into today’s play trailing by 61 runs.
Swamy, with 3/22 (5 overs), has been the pick of the bowlers for Savoury’s XI thus far.
The fourth and final day will see action get underway today at 9:30 a.m. barring any further incidents or bad weather as the players involved look to press their cases for selection to the Guyana Harpy Eagles side, which will begin their West Indies Championship title defence on February 7.
