da betsson： Port-of-Spain – An absorbing duel between Barbados’ bowlers andTrinidad and Tobago’s batsmen culminated with a hard-earnedadvantage for the desperate hosts yesterday
05-Feb-2000Barbados 196, Trinidad and Tobago 251-6Port-of-Spain – An absorbing duel between Barbados’ bowlers andTrinidad and Tobago’s batsmen culminated with a hard-earnedadvantage for the desperate hosts yesterday.On a gripping second day, Barbados toiled in the face of thecrucial century stand between Richard Smith and Keno Mason thatearned Trinidad and Tobago unlikely first innings points.There was plenty of frustration for the defending Busta Cupchampions who could only manage four wickets on the day,including that of a night watchman.As Trinidad and Tobago built their useful lead of 55, quite a fewappeals were consistently turned down.When Smith and Mason met in the middle of another steamy, sunnyday, Barbados were favourites for the lead with the big,electronic scoreboard reading 103 for five.The plucky night watchman Dinanath Ramnarine had finally beendislodged after more than two hours of frustration and Barbadoshad also claimed the important scalps of captain Brian Lara andopener Daren Ganga.Lara arrived to the cheers of excited schoolchildren and wasimmediately greeted with a typical Ryan Hurley bouncer.The Trinidad and Tobago captain cut Hurley for a boundary a fewballs later, but there was a hush around the ground in the nextover when Pedro Collins bowled the world’s double record-holderwith a ball that came off the inside edge and onto the leg-stump.It was the scalp Barbados wanted most and when Hurley picked uphis second wicket by having Ramnarine caught left-handed atsilly-point by Adrian Griffith to end a vital innings of 16 thatstarted the previous evening, Trinidad and Tobago appeared underpressure.Smith and Mason were the last two recognised batsmen in and therewas a lengthy tail to follow with still another 93 runs requiredfor first innings lead.For the next 3 1/2 hours, however, the two former Trinidad andTobago captains featured in a sixth-wicket partnership of 120that might prove vital in a match that Trinidad and Tobago mustwin to stand a chance of reaching the semifinals.The 27-year-old Mason, a surprise inclusion as a wicketkeeper/batsman in his first first-class match since 1997, battedthrough the last two sessions with much aplomb to reach a careerbest unbeaten 76.It was an innings mixed with sound defence and measuredaggression from a player who has now resigned himself to theobscurity of Division 2 cricket and was not even invited tonational trials this season.Mason seemed to inspire Smith with his confident strokeplay,which was best reflected with what appeared to be a push thatraced across the ground and down to long-off for one of his sevenfours off 180 balls.Smith endured a torrid session on either side of lunch in whichhe survived a few raucous appeals, one of which was a shout for acatch at the wicket off Collins when there was plenty ofdeviation.Smith was five at the time and Mason was on 11 when Barbadosbelieved he was lbw to Bryan, leading to captain Philo Wallacemoving from his mid-off position to make an inquiry of umpireZainul Maccum.Smith, however, grew in confidence and when the under-utilisedleg-spinner Dave Marshall came on for his first bowl of the dayan hour after lunch, he was despatched for two on-sideboundaries.The tournament’s leading wicket-taker was immediately pulled outof the attack, but Marshall would come back late in the day toend the partnership with the third ball of a new spell.Smith, pushing forward to a straight ball, was lbw for 65, aninnings that spanned four hours and included five boundaries from176 balls.Barbados were also held up in the morning session by Ganga, whopromised much more than his eventual 39, and Ramnarine beforeclaiming the day’s first wicket after an hour and 10 minutes.