GEORGETOWN, CANA -
JAMAICAN spinners Phillip Keating and O'dean Brown shared nine Guyana wickets to virtually assure their side of a place in the final of the West Indies Under-19 cricket competition yesterday.
Left-arm spinner Keating captured five for 62 and leg-spinner Brown, four for 36, as Guyana - chasing the 250 made by Jamaica in their first innings - crumbled for 153 at the Uitvlugt Community Centre ground. The Jamaicans had extended the 97-run advantage to 124 by reaching 27 for one by the close of day two.
The not out batsmen were Brenton Parchment on 23 and Danza Hyatt on two. Donovan Pagon (1) was the man out, caught by Troy Cornelius at silly-point off the off-spin of Ramnarine Chattergoon.
Earlier, the Guyanese openers Hemraj Garbarran (30) and Ryan Ramdass (33) saw off the potential threat posed by Jamaican fast bowlers Andrew Richardson and Jermaine Lawson, but found the spin difficult to negotiate.
The openers faced a hostile new ball spell, during which Ramdass was struck in the chest by Richardson, putting on 55 for the first wicket before Keating struck.
Garbarran, prepared to take the attack to the bowlers, slammed five boundaries, but failed to keep down a forward defensive prod off the left-armer and was caught by Damien Grey at silly-point. Chattergoon (1) was then bowled by a Keating arm-ball before Ramdass, who was dropped by Lawson at mid-off off Brown when 24 from a cross batted slog, repeated the shot off the same bowler and was safely taken by Parchment at slip.
The score, 87 for three, then became 87 for five as Narsingh Deonarine (12) and Cornelius (0) were trapped leg-before-wicket to Keating and Brown respectively.
All-rounder Ron Matthews tried to launch a counter-attack, slamming a six and two fours in 16, before he was adjudged leg-before to Keating at 107 for six.
Any hopes Guyana harboured of making a fight ended one run later when their last recognised batsman Roopnarine Ramgobin (2) played back to Brown and lost his off stump.
After tea, taken at 116 for seven, Guyana slipped further into the mire created by their inept batting when Imran Hussein (8) was bowled by Keating at 123.
The end was delayed by a ninth wicket stand of 28 between Kevin Bazil (11) and Kieran Siewdyal (16) which ended when Bazil, after batting for 84 minutes, was stumped by Carlton Baugh off Brown. The innings ended two runs later when Siewdyal failed to beat Lawson's throw from fine-leg as he and Rayon Thomas attempted a second run.
The Guyanese had earlier limited the Jamaicans to 250 after the visitors resumed at the overnight 243 for seven. Thomas claimed his second five-wicket haul of the tournament by having Grey, 31 overnight, caught by wicket-keeper Hussein for 36 and removed the off-stump of Lawson with an inswinging yorker. Grey's overnight partner Richardson was leg-before to Chattergoon without adding to his 17.
