GangaSCARBOROUGH, Trinidad, CMC
DAREN GANGA registered a hard-fought, unbeaten century to lead Trinidad & Tobago's flimsy batting display on the opening day of their eighth round match of the Carib Beer 2005 Cricket Series against front-runners Jamaica at Shaw yesterday.
Ganga, the T&T captain, is undefeated on 104, as the home team reached 196 for eight in their first innings at the close on a rain-shortened day at Shaw Park.
It was Ganga's first century of the series and his fifth regional hundred. His patient knock has lasted close to 5-1/2 hours and he has struck half-dozen fours from 237 balls.
His batting also showed up the inconsistency of T&T's batting in this year's competition.
T&T chose to bat after rain delayed the start by 35 minutes and fast bowler Jerome Taylor bowled Lendl Simmons for zero in the first over of the match.
Ganga and opening batsman Imran Khan carried T&T to lunch on 47 for one and added 103 for the second wicket before the fragility of the rest of the batting was cruelly exposed.
TRAGEDY
Ganga and Khan consolidated T&T's
position with resolute and determined
batting, but just when it seemed the pair would continue to push on tragedy struck.
Khan was run out for 48 going for a second run off the last ball before the tea break to leave his side 102 for two. He hit four fours from 108 balls in three hours.
After the break, none of the other batsmen showed the application needed at this level of the game and fell to poor shot selections.
Jerome Taylor had Ricardo Powell adjudged lbw for eight and Dinesh Ramdin bowled for two before spin bowler Nikita Miller had Samuel Badree lbw for five and Daren Powell had Richard Kelly caught in the slips to leave T&T 138 for six.
The decline was halted temporarily
when Ganga and Reyad Emrit added 44 for the seventh wicket, but two late wickets to spin bowler Odean Brown rocked T&T again.
Emrit was caught behind for 15 and Dave Mohammed was caught in the deep for one to leave Ganga and Mervyn Dillon to bat through until the close.
Taylor has been Jamaica's most successful bowler with three wickets for 48 runs from 16 overs, while Odean Brown took two for 20 from seven overs.
