GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC:
AFTER AN enthralling encounter, spinners Mahen-dra Nagamootoo and Neil McGarrell batted, not bowled, Guyana towards prevailing over an initially robust but eventually sloppy Jamaica, to edge into the semi-finals of the WICB Regional One-Day Tournament in Barbados later this week.
Guyana's stuttering response to Jamaica's 234 was built around a marathon 62 from Krishna Arjune promoted to open the innings, but eventually had enough gas left in the tank to surpass the required 235 by one, with an over to spare and three wickets in hand.
Guyana needed 43 runs from the last six overs, with four wickets at their disposal.
McGarrell (23 from 25 balls) and demoted wicketkeeper/opener Derwin Christian (12) gingerly brought it down to 25 runs from 20 balls when Christian was caught at cover off Chris Gayle.
Nagamootoo walked out and as if the thick, obvious tension was non-existent, smashed four fours and 20 runs from nine balls.
The left hander bolted Gayle's final delivery of the 49th into the midwicket fence and raced off into the relieved arms of his teammates, who will travel to Barbados to face the Windward Islands in their semi-final match-up.
Jamaica won the toss and Xavier Marshall, striking the ball from the middle of the bat and with immense force, virtually single handedly guided the Jamaicans to 234 for five from 50 overs.
The 19-year-old, during his 148-ball knock, flayed Guyana's bowlers with entrepreneurial elegance, equally efficient when
forcing singles and when hounding fours.
His masterful Man-of-the-Match innings (14x4, 3x6) though, may very well have been a nasty omen for his team, as none of the centurions this year have ended on winning teams.
The neat right-hander, oozing a classical touch, spent 76 balls on his first fifty, bringing up the landmark with the first of his three sixes which landed on the third level of the media centre, off an extraordinarily short ball from part time leg spinner Sewnarine Chattergoon.
Another 70 balls and he arrived at 100 after cutting through point for a gentle single.
Guyana had a hectic time in the field. The bowling changes were rife with miscalculation ending in their best bowler, Nagamootoo being unable to complete his spell.
Nagamootoo, 23 runs with one wicket from nine overs, could only hang around and watch as Marshall and Gareth Breese helped themselves to 19 runs, inclusive of three sixes, in the final over bowled by an expensive Rayon Griffith (5-0-35-0).
First up, Marshall set a solid base for Jamaica with Chris Gayle whose 35 was the next best score.
The opening pair scored 84 runs at four runs per over, before Gayle pulled spinner Lennox Cush with might and muscle, but was amazingly taken low down at short midwicket by Nagamootoo.
Captain Chanderpaul shortly after, put down Marshall on 43, failing to take down a high drive at midwicket off Cush. There was no monumental partnership thereafter, but ones that kept the Jamaicans going at an appreciable rate.
Marshall, batting through the innings, posted stands of 44 and 36 with Marlon Samuels (18) and Wavell Hinds (16), and 32 with Carlton Baugh (15).
Nagamootoo, in particular, but also Cush, bowled a steady line and went for 23 and 31 runs respec-tively, the off spinner taking two wickets and the leg spinner one.
In total, Jamaica conceded an inexcusable second-highest score of 35 extras, inclusive of 25 wides and it was perhaps those more than anything else that caused them to be in Barbados only as intransit passengers rather than semi-finalists.
The difference for Guyana was in Samuels' final over, the 48th. It cost Jamaica 10 runs including consecutive fours by Nagamootoo who, unlike McGarrell, preferred brazen aggression.
T&T BEAT LEEWARDS
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago led by a fighting 41 from young wicket-keeper Dinesh Ramdin, and a bowling attack that overcame threatening half-centuries from Runako Morton and Alex Adams, secured an eight-run victory over the Leewards at Uitvlugt.
After posting 219 all out from 49.1 overs when they were sent in to bat, Trinidad and Tobago restricted the Leewards to 211 all out off 49.1 overs for the narrow victory and a spot in the semi-finals later this week in Barbados.
Man-of-the-Match Richard Kelly, who helped bolster T&T's late order batting, delivered 10 economical overs with two wickets that cost only 22 runs. The in-form Morton lashed a shot-filled 87 off 117 balls and Adams got 51 off 77 balls, but no one else in the Leewards batting line-up reached as high as 20, and they fell short in the end.
SCORBEOARD
JAMAICA Innings
C Gayle c Nagamootoo b Cush 35
X Marshall not out 125
B Parchment lbw Nagamootoo 6
M Samuels c Griffith b McGarrell 18
W Hinds st Christian b Cush 16
+C Baugh Jr run out 15
G Breese not out 6
Extras (w-3, lb-10) 13
Total (For five wickets from 50 overs) 234
FOW: 1-84, 2-103, 3-147, 4-183, 5-215
Bowling: King 10-0-55-0 (2w), Griffith 5-0-35-0 (1w), McGarrell 10-1-31-1, Cush 10-1-39-2, Nagamootoo 9-1-23-1, Chattergoon 4-0-22-0, Daesrath 2-0-19-0.
GUYANA Innings
S Chattergoon c wkt Baugh b Washington 14
K Arjune b Gayle 62
N Deonarine c&b Samuels 29
L Cush b Miller 21
S Chanderpaul c&b Breese 18
D Daesrath run out 2
+D Christian c Miller b Gayle 12
N McGarrell not out 23
M Nagamootoo not out 20
Extras (w-25, nb-6, lb-4) 35
Total (For 7 wickets from 49 overs) 236
FOW: 1-29, 2-89, 3-122, 4-155, 5-161, 6-177, 7-210.
Bowling: Washington 5-1-19-1 (7w), McInnis 6-0-28-0 (3w, 1nb), Bernard 1-0-17-0 (5nb), Gayle 10-2-50-2 (6w), Samuels 10-2-42-1 (2w), Miller 9-0-41-1 (6w), Breese 8-0-35-1 (3w).
Result: Guyana win by 3 wickets.
Man-of-the-Match: Xavier Marshall (Jamaica).
Points: Guyana 4, Jamaica 0.
Toss: Jamaica
Umpires: Terrence Birbal & Vernon Weekes.
