West Indies Domestic: Trinidad take lead

Port-of-Spain - An absorbing duel between Barbados' bowlers and Trinidad and Tobago's batsmen culminated with a hard-earned advantage for the desperate hosts yesterday.

On a gripping second day, Barbados toiled in the face of the crucial century stand between Richard Smith and Keno Mason that earned Trinidad and Tobago unlikely first innings points.

There was plenty of frustration for the defending Busta Cup champions 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 few appeals were consistently turned down.

When Smith and Mason met in the middle of another steamy, sunny day, Barbados were favourites for the lead with the big, electronic scoreboard reading 103 for five.

The plucky night watchman Dinanath Ramnarine had finally been dislodged after more than two hours of frustration and Barbados had also claimed the important scalps of captain Brian Lara and opener Daren Ganga.

Lara arrived to the cheers of excited schoolchildren and was immediately greeted with a typical Ryan Hurley bouncer.

The Trinidad and Tobago captain cut Hurley for a boundary a few balls later, but there was a hush around the ground in the next over when Pedro Collins bowled the world's double record-holder with a ball that came off the inside edge and onto the leg-stump.

It was the scalp Barbados wanted most and when Hurley picked up his second wicket by having Ramnarine caught left-handed at silly-point by Adrian Griffith to end a vital innings of 16 that started the previous evening, Trinidad and Tobago appeared under pressure.

Smith and Mason were the last two recognised batsmen in and there was a lengthy tail to follow with still another 93 runs required for first innings lead.

For the next 3 1/2 hours, however, the two former Trinidad and Tobago captains featured in a sixth-wicket partnership of 120 that might prove vital in a match that Trinidad and Tobago must win 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, batted through the last two sessions with much aplomb to reach a careerbest unbeaten 76.

It was an innings mixed with sound defence and measured aggression from a player who has now resigned himself to the obscurity of Division 2 cricket and was not even invited to national trials this season.

Mason seemed to inspire Smith with his confident strokeplay, which was best reflected with what appeared to be a push that raced across the ground and down to long-off for one of his seven fours off 180 balls.

Smith endured a torrid session on either side of lunch in which he survived a few raucous appeals, one of which was a shout for a catch at the wicket off Collins when there was plenty of deviation.

Smith was five at the time and Mason was on 11 when Barbados believed he was lbw to Bryan, leading to captain Philo Wallace moving from his mid-off position to make an inquiry of umpire Zainul Maccum.

Smith, however, grew in confidence and when the under-utilised leg-spinner Dave Marshall came on for his first bowl of the day an hour after lunch, he was despatched for two on-side boundaries.

The tournament's leading wicket-taker was immediately pulled out of the attack, but Marshall would come back late in the day to end the partnership with the third ball of a new spell.

Smith, pushing forward to a straight ball, was lbw for 65, an innings that spanned four hours and included five boundaries from 176 balls.

Barbados were also held up in the morning session by Ganga, who promised much more than his eventual 39, and Ramnarine before claiming the day's first wicket after an hour and 10 minutes.