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Day 2: Bishop shows the way

Garth Wattley in Bridgetown

It was lunchtime and Brian Lara was knocking up on the outfield in front of the Sir Garfield Sobers Pavilion.

But when the match resumed in the middle for his countrymen, the West Indies captain was resting his injured right wrist. In the best interest of West Indies cricket.

So there was no readily identifiable Messiah available at 2.28 p.m. when, with Trinidad and Tobago in tatters at 114 for six, Ian Bishop made his way to the crease at the Kensington Oval.

Corey Collymore's inswinging yorker smashing into Lincoln Roberts's leg-stump and Hendy Bryan's ball that trapped Mervyn Dillon lbw soon left the SS Trinidad full of holes and seemingly beyond repair at 125 for eight.

But skipper Bishop has the faith that can conjure up miracles. Thus, he offered himself up.

And when finally he departed, the last man out at 219 at 6.43 pm, Bishop had managed a minor one of possibly major significance for his side.

Day 2 of this see-saw Busta Cup final ended with Trinidad and Tobago all out for 219 in their first innings, trailing hosts Barbados by 70 runs.

On paper, the Bajans hold what may still turn out to be a decisive, Cup-winning advantage. But psychologically, Bishop moved mountains for his side.

Perhaps he's not blessed enough to produce a match-winning double-century. But not for the first time in his regional career, the big fast bowler produced with the bat, a performance of great character and fine quality.

Bishop's splendid three-hour 52, only his second regional fifty, sparked an unexpected but timely lower-order rally.

Between the captain, gutsy Mukesh Persad (20) and spirited Marlon Black (21 n.o.), the last two T&T wickets raised 94 precious runs that have kept the visitors in the game.

The stony silence of the locals in the Kensington Stand for most of the final session told its own tale.

In disbelief, they were witnessing a fightback that matched the effort of their own tail that had posted 109 from the last four wickets.

Those figures, attesting to great spirit, also betray the still benign nature of this pitch. The stats are also an indictment of the top order, in particular of the T&T team.

Poor shot selection, bad concentration and plain bad cricket it was that caused Bishop agony after Barbados were finally dismissed for 289, 43 minutes into the day.

Watching his men crack under concerted Barbados pressure, pragmatic ``Bish'' could not allow himself to think about what the left-handed hero of Sabina Park would have done.

Too much was happening.

Opener Daren Ganga left the gate open and Collymore, cutting into him, sneaked through and bowled him with the score on 31.

Dennis Rampersad chose the final over before lunch to aim a reckless cut at left-arm spinner Winston Reid and wicketkeeper Courtney Browne made him pay.

Forty-six for 2. And lunch was a cheerless affair for T&T.

But that subdued mood would become definite unease, despair even, when four wickets-West Indies players Suruj Ragoonath (30), Phil Simmons (13), Richard Smith and David Williams-all tumbled after the interval for 73.

Ragoonath accepted the bait offered by Bajan skipper Sherwin Campbell, greedily going after a bouncing delivery from the erratic Reid and giving Philo Wallace catching practice at gully.

And Simmons did the same with a careless drive to mid-off off Collins.

Roberts, struggling to keep his concentration against Bryan's probing line and the Collymore's aggression, was Bishop's partner at tea (119 for six).

But Campbell, sensing a quick kill, applied the pressure after the interval and Roberts fell for 33. The crowd was debating the wisdom of enforcing the follow-on.

Bishop, though, was thinking only of salvation. Finding a faithful disciple in Persad who spanked four good boundaries including a flourishing cover-drive off Bryan that saw T&T past the follow-on mark of 136.

Persad stayed 51 minutes with Bishop, adding 37.

But when he finally skied a catch to wide mid-on, the end seemed very near. Yet, incredibly, it was not.

Taking full advantage of the many gaps in the field, straight-bat Bishop farmed the bowling superbly, playing several excellent drives through the covers.

Black, inspired by his captain's frequent words of encouragement and advice, stuck it out and grew in confidence against tiring bowlers.

In fact, a good-looking four to extra-cover off Bryan cut the Barbados lead to under 100 as the pair added 57 in 87 minutes.

In the end, Black was unbeaten when Bishop went lbw to Collymore.

But Marlon would have left knowing that while victory is far from certain, his skipper has shown the way home.

Day 3: T&T need a miracle

Garth Wattley in Bridgetown

Barbados captain Sherwin Campbell had not long gone back to the pavilion when the drop came.

Charged-up Mervyn Dillon saw left-handed Adrian Griffith on 14, fend an accurate rising delivery into the gully.

But slow-moving Ragoonath saw the ball bounce in and out of his grasping left hand.

The bowler, following through almost in the batsman's crease, was not at all pleased. Gnawing at his bones was not only anger but anxiety that a precious opportunity had been wasted.

And by the end of the third day of the Busta Cup final at Kensington Oval with Barbados still batting on 259 for 9, 11 pairs of tired Trini legs and 11 grim faces told the story of opportunties lost and a cup slipping away.

This morning, when they eventually manage to prise out one of Winston Reid (26) or Corey Collymore (4), the Trinidad and Tobago batsmen will have the daunting task of amassing in excess of 329 to lay their hands on their first regional trophy since 1985.

A miracle, even of the kind evangelist Benny Hinn produces, seems more likely at this point.

And if they are to have the slightest of avoiding a Bajan romp, Ian Bishop's men will have to recapture the spirit they lost yesterday afternoon.

As West Indies One-day recuit, 29-year-old Hendy Bryan (60) put another impressive caning on them yesterday, both the patience and resolve of the fielding team seemed to dissolve under a series of overthrows and mis-fields.

But the strain that the three days of struggle has been putting on the trophy-starved visitors had been showing much earlier.

So upset was Dillon at the Campbell let-off, he headed for the distant outfield at the end of the over while his colleagues had water.

Not even the absolute scorcher of an extra-cover drive that Hendy Bryan hammered off him in the afternoon would have made his mood blacker. It was different at the start though.

The late Sunday evening rally that captain Ian Bishop had inspired, filled his men with renewed zest. Zest that increased when Campbell's dismissal left the total on 26 for 2.

Right on line from the first ball and bowling more aggressively than in the first innings, Dillon (3 for 48) got Wallace to drive tentatively and Daren Ganga, diving forward at mid-off, hauled in the catch inches from the ground. He went for a duck, with the score on one.

Then after Campbell had struck Black for two commanding boundaries in his first over, the opener recorded one of his rare failures this season. With the score on 26, Phil Simmons, replacing Black after two overs at the northern end and getting the ball to move around, had the Barbados captain lbw as he tried to play the ball through the on-side.

But this was a day when hope was extinguished by poor execution and more Bajan resilience.

Before his premeditated back drive was well-held by the bowler Black in a second spell after lunch, solid Griffith (35), added 21 runs to his score while sharing partnerships of 35 with Floyd Reifer (21) and 36 with Ricky Hoyte (43).

And when Courtney Browne's snicked drive off Mukesh Persad, bounced out of Bishop's left-hand at solitary slip when he was just one, the wicketkeeper-batsman proceeded to add 58 with Bryan.

At the time of Browne's escape, Barbados were126 for 5 and just 196 runs ahead.

Hoyte, having played a disciplined, steadying innings lasting two-and-a-half- hours, left after tea, before Browne, played Mukesh Persad onto his stumps.

When the keeper eventually left, driving Bishop to a more secure Ragoonath in the covers, the Barbados lead had climbed to 265.

Bishop celebrated by turning to the caustic, merciless Kensington stand which had booed and jeered Phil Simmons on his dismissal on Sunday, and gesturing defiantly. But the damage, as the Barclay's scoreboard attested, had already been done.

Bryan, symbolic of the confidence and all-round competence of a unit that has bonded over 16 months of preparation, excelled with his shot selection and appreciation of the quick single.

In adding a further 49 with Reid for the eighth wicket, he took the game away from T&T with his fine 63-ball innings that contained four sweetly hit boundaries before he top-edged Black to Bishop with the total on 244. Pedro Collins, also caught by Bishop off Dillon followed him.

But the crowd lapped up Bryan's display, especially that extra cover scorcher that drew delighted howls, and the blazing drive that sent Dillon packing.

``Pow!'' Big Merv walked away, perhaps still hearing the ech.

It was a grim reminder that someone was being busted.

Day 4: T&T 'Busted', End of the road

Garth Wattley in Bridgetown

``David has said most likely this could be his last. He's totally enjoyed it and a couple other guys have said the same thing.''

It was the end of the inaugural Busta Cup final. But Trinidad and Tobago cricket captain Ian Bishop seemed to be talking about more than the present.

``Regardless of whether we continue playing or whether we decide to call it a day, Trinidad cricket goes on,'' said the man who had just seen a Cup dream dashed, and his team busted by 161 runs.

There was a wishfulness on the captain's face as he watched Sherwin Campbell and Roland Holder proudly raise the new trophy in front of the Trinidad sponsors, to the lusty cheers of the small crowd in front of the Sir Garfield Sobers pavilion.

Phil Simmons' face was even more grim. David Williams at the end of the first-class match he has said is ``most likely'' his last, was a little more cheerful.

It was the second time in four years that the pair, the only survivors from T&T's last regional triumph 14 years ago, had had to watch the opposition lift the winner's prize. And, it may have been the last hurrah for both.

``A lot of our guys devoted all of their careers to get their hands on the regional trophy once again. And this year we failed,'' said 12-year veteran Bishop.

The crushing margin of the Bajan triumph underscored that failure. For when young Bajan tyro Corey Collymore smacked befuddled Mervyn Dillon's off-stump with a spot-on leg-cutter at 3.22 pm, T&T had been whipped from first ball to last.

To many going about their business in Bridgetown, the final day was a mere formality. Outbatted and out bowled over the first half of the match, the visitors were up against it.

Bajan cocksuredness had left no room for a Trini fightback. And the few that did show up at Kensington yesterday, saw the visitors go down flayling.

It was no testimony to the hard work that the Brian Lara-less unit had done all season. But in the period after lunch to just after tea, T&T lost nine wickets for 88 runs in 142 minutes. The skilful work of energetic Collymore (4 for 43) and the old hand, series MVP Winston Reid (4 for 61) was made less difficult by the curious tactics of a seemingly panick-stricken batting side.

The sudden crash had not seemed so likely in the first session.

After Barbados' last pair added 9 runs to make the formidable victory target 339 in a possible 85 overs, the visitors took lunch reasonably placed on 90 for 1 in 18 overs. But even then, there was high risk in the play. The run out of Daren Ganga off a no-ball was the first sign of trouble. And while Suruj Ragoonath had been successfully wielding his blade, depositing Hendy Bryan onto the roof of the Kensington Stand, he had several near misses. And after the interval, fortune and composure deserted ``Ragoo'' and the rest.

Intent on hitting every ball to the boundary, they perished.

Denis Rampersad (18), T&T's season MVP, ``the outstanding (T&T) batsman of the season,'' according to Bishop, cut at a Reid ball far too close to him and edged to wicketkeeper Courtney Browne in the second over after lunch.

He had duplicated his first innings dismissal. Then at 99, Ragoonath (53), pulled at Collymore and skied a simple catch to Philo Wallace in the midwicket region.

Lincoln Roberts, praised by the captain for his maturity this season, and Simmons, seemed intent on following the opener.

Seemingly possessed of some mad ball fever, they chased virtually everything outside off-stump. Only belatedly did they opt for singles.

Just 33 were added before Roberts, having just struck Reid a massive blow atop the Kensington Stand, top-edged a sweep to square leg. The run chase was already over. But the procession to the pavilion continued. Stunningly.

At 141, Simmons (20) played a Collymore yorker into his stumps. And before tea, three more wickets tumbled without a run added in the last six balls of the session. Two of them fell to Collymore.

Williams, in probably his final innings, guided the pacer to gully. And the skipper, the antithesis of the sound first innings practitioner, lashed a bouncer high but straight into Wallace's hands.

Off the first ball of the next over bowled by Reid, Richard Smith skied a catch to Floyd Reifer, running from cover to mid-off.

At tea, flight some arrangements were being confirmed with T&T tottering on 156 for 8.

The spirit, flickering dangerously since the previous afternoon, was all but extinguished. And 12 minutes after tea, Reid trapped Mukesh Persad lbw to claim his 47th wicket of a memorable season. Then Collymore did for Dillon.

``We did not have Brian Lara for the whole season. To get to the final without the number one batsman in the world, I thought was a good effort.''

The captain was consoling himself. ``I think we've made a contribution and hopefully the younger generation can carry on.''

A long Cup run had ended at Kensington.

And the future was just too much to contemplate.