By SHAMMI KOWLESSAR
PRECARIOUSLY placed midway through the opening day of their President's Cup fixture at Guaracara Park in Pointe-a-Pierre yesterday, Barbados roared back to be in a commanding position against Trinidad and Tobago at stumps.
The visitors recovered from 170 for the loss of five wickets to amass 285 and then picked up two crucial wickets in the six overs available to them.
With West Indies skipper Brian Lara sitting out the match because of an injured finger and Suruj Ragoonath already back in the pavilion, the hosts have their backs to the wall.
But at 2.15 p.m. when Roland Holder nibbled a Mervyn Dillon ball into the gloves of David Williams, T&T were firmly in the driver's seat. The Bajans were then 170 for five and Holder joined fellow West Indian batsmen Philo Wallace and Sherwin Campbell and Adrian Griffith and Floyd Reifer in the pavilion.
However wicketkeeper Ricky Hoyte and Terry Rollock put on a crucial 50 runs, assisted by some questionable decisions by stand-in T&T skipper Philip Simmons.
And even after the West Indies all-rounder broke the partnership in the first over of a new spell, the tail wagged for another 75 minutes to add 65 more runs.
Windies quickies Dillon and Ian Bishop proved very expensive but Simmons persisted with them for 19 and 16 overs respectively while neglecting the accurate off-spin of Mukesh Persad.
Persad bowled top-scorer Campbell behind his back to break an 89-run partnership on the stroke of lunch but did not get the ball again until shortly before tea. His 13 overs-for 28 runs-came from in four spells and he also shattered Vasbert Drakes' stumps with a wicked delivery. Dillon, who was hammered for 82 runs, finished with three wickets, including West Indies opener Wallace, comprehensively bowled leaving alone one that cut back sharply.
After he departed, Campbell and Griffith scored rapidly off Bishop and Dillon until Campbell was finally undone by Persad.
The opener had notched 65 with 11 fours but he was dropped four times. West Indies leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine was the most successful bowler, picking up three for 64 in 24 overs.
But after he ran out Winston Reid to close the innings, the home team's celebrations were short-lived.
Ragoonath, who had scored over 60 in each of his last four innings, went LBW to Patterson Thompson in the final ball of the second over for two and two deliveries later fellow-opener Anil Balliram (8) was bowled by Drakes.
Nightwatchman Persad (0) and West Indies youth player Daren Ganga (4) saw out the day and T&T closed on 18 for 2.
T&T are out of contention for the title and defeat here is likely to see them finish in the cellar position.