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Day 1: Gunsmoke at Guaracara

'Marshall Merv' grabs six scalps

When he strapped on the pads to open his team's innings, Guyana captain Clayton Lambert was hoping to ambush the home side.

His side's fragile batting required a substantial contribution from him, if they were to get out of Guaracara Park still alive in the Busta Cup.

But when the skipper finally fell on 73 and, one wicket later, last man Colin Stuart went, the visitors had been shot down for 175-by ``Marshall'' Merv Dillon.

By the close at 5.35 p.m., deputies Daren Ganga (35) and Dennis Rampersad (16) had consolidated well to take Trinidad and Tobago to 71 for 1.

He bore no shiny six-shooter. And there was no tell-tale gunsmoke marking the demise of the Guyanese.

But Dillon, the hungry T&T pacer had nevertheless put Lambert's posse under the gun.

He was hardly the master of the rugged, relentless South Africans. But yesterday, the young T&T speedster used skill and some guile to undo the less adept visitors.

His career-best figures of six for 46 were testimony to the effort that negated Lambert's resolute, responsible four-hour effort. If only his men had followed his lead ...

There have been four matches since the visitors' capitulation against T&T in the first match of the season. And-a shuddering thought-without Lambert's contribution, yesterday's meagre total would have been even less worthy of a regional semifinalist.

The passage of time seems to have done little for either the form or discipline of the Guyanese batsmen. And Dillon made them pay in an impressive second spell on either side of lunch.

During that period, the speedster grabbed five of the six wickets to fall before skipper Ian Bishop finally relieved him of the ball at the southern end.

But it was from the north that Marshall Merv started the rout.

After Lambert surprised some by choosing to bat first on an unusually grassy-looking but surprisingly slow Guaracara strip, he saw opening partner Ricardo Mohammed trapped lbw by Dillon with only five runs on the board.

There was no excuse, however, for West Indies player Keith Semple. Enticed to go for the drive to a ball wide of off-stump, he obliged, snicking a wild stroke to wicketkeeper David Williams. His score was just 12 and the total 34.

Ramnaresh Sarwan was not reckless. But Dillon got him anyway, startling the helpless teenager with sharp bounce as he prodded forward, only for Suruj Ragoonath in the slips to clutch the catch. Left-handed Andre Percival also got a fine delivery down the ``corridor'' which he could only tickle to Williams.

A concerned Lambert could do little at the other end as the score stuttered to 64 for 4.

He must have wondered why his men did not follow their leader and wait for the overpitched delivery or the short ball occasionally delivered by Dillon (albeit mainly in his first spell) and, to a lesser extent, Marlon Black.

But at 83, Lambert lost Lennox Cush, lbw pulling at Black.

And by the time the total had reached 104, Dillon had had both Mahendra Nagamootoo and Neil McGarrell caught, one in the covers, the other in the slips.

But with seven wickets down, the skipper finally found an able partner in wicketkeeper Vishal Nagamootoo. Surviving a difficult chance to Mukesh Persad off Dillon when just two, the little keeper gave his captain level-headed support, the pair adding a face-saving 65 for the eighth wicket to push the total to 169.

The Marshall was now off the trail. And the natives were getting restless with their team's seeming inability to polish off the tail. But Black and Phil Simmons settled that, getting rid of Nagamootoo (36) and Lambert respectively caught off pulls to Richard Smith.

That restlessness returned briefly 12 runs into the T&T reply, when Stuart's fine away-cutter was edged to second slip by Ragoonath.

But an accomplished-looking Ganga, counting one superb square drive off the backfoot off Reon King among his eight fours, and a more sedate Rampersad stayed put.

And this morning, Lambert's properly shackled men will be looking to break out of jail.

Day 2: Ganga misses mark

``For a nice innings to end like that is real sad!''

The dismayed speaker, watching Daren Ganga dragging himself towards the Guaracara Park pavilion yesterday afternoon, shared the player's chagrin.

Run out on 92, the young Trinidad and Tobago opening batsman's sense of loss was also probably shared by the couple thousands around the ground.

That mad second of indecision that cost the West Indies debutant his second first-class and regional century was not, for the locals at least, the crowning moment of a ragged day's play in this Busta Cup semifinal.

But Ganga's otherwise fine innings plus some thrilling powerplay by Phil Simmons contributed significantly to the T&T close of play score of 315 all out.

The total meant that while Ian Bishop's side have not quite locked away Clayton Lambert's Guyana team, the screws are on tight.

Bad light spared Lambert and company the anxiety of facing eight overs yesterday afternoon. But this morning they will still have the difficult task of wiping off a 140-run deficit and then setting the home team a reasonable victory target.

Having already conceded first innings advantage, they will have to lift their game severalfold to hold on to their regional crown at least for one more game.

Resuming yesterday morning with T&T on 71-1, Ganga, 35, had already laid the foundation for something substantial. But saddled with so much hope by so many people, Ganga has more at stake these days than Cup fortune.

For a further two-and-half hours, he carried the load with aplomb, sharing partnerships of 64 with Dennis Rampersad (18), 40 with Lincoln Roberts (18) and 51 with Richard Smith (26).

Despite being involved in two run-outs, Ganga nevertheless kept a keen eye out for the singles. And with confident strokeplay, he posted four more boundaries to go with his eight of the previous evening.

His overnight partner did not blossom however.

In the day's second over, Rampersad was adjudged lbw to leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo.

Roberts too, having again promised much with three attractive boundaries, saw his knock cut short when, stranded in mid-pitch after Ganga refused a single, he failed to make his ground at the bowler's end.

There would be no more self-inflicted damage before lunch, taken at 152 for 3, although Smith on 6, survived a chance at forward short-leg off Keith Semple's slow medium stuff.

That aside, Ganga (70) and Smith (20) had little trouble against an attack which surprisingly never included pacer Reon King during the first session. That was not the only instance of strange tactics by the fielding team.

But given his chance after lunch, King proved disappointing and ineffectual. The toiling Nagamootoo it was who finally got the breakthrough, bowling Smith leg-stump.

But any chance of another rapid incision disappeared after Simmons, still on zero, skied a drive into the covers where neither of the two converging fielders was able to hold the catch.

Big mistake.

Vulnerable like Julie mangoes in season, ``Simmo'' eventually settled-and simmered.

Whack! A Nagamootoo short ball landed near the tennis court behind the main stand.

Smack! ``Nagas'' deposited in front of the smiling members in the Petrotrin Sports Club.

Bodow! A thunderclap of an off-drive off Colin Stuart flashes by the transfixed mid-off fielder.

Coming with T&T just past the Guyana total, Simmons's onslaught represented an increasingly rare treat from a man now the region's second-highest run scorer with 4,458 runs.

The knock to some extent compensated for Neil McGarrell's rocket-like direct throw from backward point that found the hesitating Ganga well short of his ground when the score had reached 195.

Twenty runs ahead, the home team sought to increase the tempo. But they also lost wickets.

David Williams, caught at silly mid-off off Neil McGarrell was the first casualty at 253. Simmons (59, seven fours, three sixes) went next, pulling at Stuart.

But the last three wickets added a further 38 thanks to some shoddy Guyanese cricket.

Lambert will be telling his men things can get no worse. If the Guyanese still hope to wring rich reward from this wretched position, they cannot afford to.