Mohammed props up T&T

1 Middle order batsman Jason Mohammed was the man that stood between T&T and Windwards as he scored 73 to save his team’s blushes on the opening day of their Regional Four-day clash at the Queen’s Park Oval yesterday. Scores: T&T 222 all out vs Windwards 12 without loss. Pacer Delorn Johnson and spinner Alston Bobb were the chief destroyers grabbing nine wickets between them as the home team batting first on being sent in made 222 all out. At the close of play, the Windwards had reached 12 without loss in front of a handful of fans.

Mohammed, who showed good form in the Four-day trial matches continued his good work after T&T had lost two early wickets in Evin Lewis (2) and Darren Bravo. Mohammed found a willing partner in opener Adrian Barath and they showed the patience that manager Manohar Ramsaran has been calling for. They batted sensibly in taking the score from 17 for two to 85 before Barath fell to Johnson. He made 39 from 103 balls in 133 minutes of batting, in which time he stroked six fours. At the fall of Barath’s wicket, Mohammed forged another useful partnership of 55 runs with wicketkeeper/batsmen Steven Katwaroo. In the process he brought up his half century off 102 balls in 132 minutes with eight fours. Just as these two were looking to push on further, Katwaroo fell for 20 off 67 balls. And for the addition of a solitary run, mainstay Mohammed followed him for his 73. In the end his figures read 202 minutes, 164 balls, 10 fours.

After his dismissal it was downhill for T&T, despite little cameos from skipper Rayad Emrit 28, all rounder Yannic Cariah 24 and pacer Marlon Richards 15. The left-handed Johnson, who plays for the T&T Red Steel in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), finished with 5/48 off 17.4 overs, while Bobb took 4/53 off 22 probing overs. Wicketkeeper Lyndon James had a very productive day snaring  five catches and a stumping. Windwards closed on 12 without loss and when play resumes today, they will need a further 211 to take first innings points. Play on the second day today resumes at 10am.

SCOREBOARD

TT vs WINDWARDS
TT inns
A Barath c James b Johnson    39
E Lewis lbw Pascal    2
D Bravo c James b Pascal    1
J Mohammed c Currency b Bobb    73
S Katwaroo  st James b Bobb    20
I Khan c James b Bobb    4
A Hosein c Lesporis b Bobb    7
Y Cariah c James b Johnson    24
R Emrit b Johnson    28
M Richards c James b Johnson    15
S Gabriel not out    2
Extras nb 3, w1, lb3    7
Total all out    222
Fall of wkts: 8, 17, 85, 140, 141, 150, 153, 204, 307, 222.
Bowling: N Pascal 9-1-27-1, D Johnson 17.4-5-48-5, K Peters 16-6-34-0, A Bobb 22-2-53-4, L Sebastien 15-5-39-0, D Polius 6-1-18-0.
Windwards inns
D Smith not out    8
T Theophile not out    4
Extras    0
Total for no wkts    12
Bowling: S Gabriel 1-0-8-0, M Richards 1-0-4-0.
At Guyana National Stadium: Barbados 76/4 (Roston Chase 37 no, Kraigg Brathwaite 19) vs Guyana At Warner Park: Leeward Islands 101/2 (Kieran Powell 72 no) vs Jamaica