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West Indies U19 player Raneico Smith played hero as he scored a 50 and took two wickets as the Barbados U19s stuck to the script they’ve been using all tournament on day one in the Finals of the West Indies Rising Stars U19 Regional two-day Championships played at the Arnos Vale playing field in Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Barbados lost early wickets, the middle to lower order stage a steady recovery, and one of their tall fast bowlers made a half century to post 200 runs.
This has now become a habit for the Bajan boys in the two-Day competition as they lost the toss vs Jamaica U19s and were sent in to bat.
Opening batsman Kyle Jordan was caught at slip in the second over of the day with the score on five. Joshua Dorne and Zion Brathwaite were able to take the score to 27 before Dorne was out caught for 11.
The batters all got starts as nine of them got into double figures, Brathwaite was out for 19, score being 52/3, followed by Joshua Morris who made 18, 60/4.
With the score on 79, the fifth wicket of Akeem McCollin,14, brought hope to the Jamaica team as they began to see a chance of making inroads into the middle and lower order of the Bajan lineup.
Captain Nathan Sealy and Jatario Prescod were able to steady the ship as they have been doing all tournament, putting on a partnership of 38 runs before Sealy was out for a well played 29 in 63 balls. Prescod followed quickly after for 16 with the score now 121/7.
Zishan Motara and Smith looked comfortable batting in the middle before Motara was bowled for 18 as they took the score to 156/8.
Smith continued to score freely as he and Kyron King batted through the tea break, Smith reached his 50, then lost his wicket immediately, facing 56 balls which included seven fours and one six and the score being 195/9.
Sitting just four runs from two batting points while trying to avoid being bowled out and give Jamaica the full four bowling points, Saurav Worrell and King patiently picked up a couple singles to reach the mark of 200 before declaring with nine wickets down.
For Jamaica, leg spinner Tamarie Redwood picked up 3/61, opening fast bowler Jevone Wynter and medium pacer Michael Clarke both got 2/39.
Fast bowler Smith, motivated and full of energy, was able to get Adrian Weir caught at slip with the fourth ball of the innings while the fifth ball took the edge of Jordan Johnson to give wicket keeper Morris a catch and the score now 4/2. On a hat trick and charging in, Smith had a loud confident appeal as he struck Steven Wedderburn full on his toe, the entire team thought they had another wicket but the umpire said not-out and that brought an end to an exciting first over.
However, Wedderburn and opener Matthew Morgan held firm and were able to bat the remainder of the day without losing further wickets with the score being 72/2. The game now hangs in the balance as Jamaica are 128 runs behind with 8 wickets in hand, Wedderburn 39 from 68 deliveries while Morgan is there on 28 from 72 balls.
The first session on day two will definitely set the tone for the direction this finals will be headed as both teams will be vying for first innings points along with all the extra bonus points they can gather. (ZM)
