Junior Dowie, Staff Photographer
Kingston opening batsman Raymond Ferguson plays through the onside during his innings of 50 in yesterday's Rothmans match at Sabina Park against St. Thomas.THREE GOOD batting performances backed up by accurate bowling at Sabina Park put Kingston in a strong position against visitors St. Thomas after yesterday's first day of the opening round in the 2002 Rothmans National Cricket Championship at Sabina Park yesterday.
Meanwhile, West Indies batsman Christopher Gayle was in fine form at Lucas where he slammed an undefeated century against Boys' Town.
As was expected, the top three batsmen for Kingston proved too powerful for the St. Thomas bowlers and as a result built a solid foundation. Paced by an innings of 94 off 185 deliveries by opener Nicholas Austin and an attractive 50 by Raymond Ferguson and a delightful 45 by Mario Ventura, Kingston raced to 287 for nine before declaring and then restricted St. Thomas to 52 for two with the openers back in the pavilion.
With an opening stand of 102 between Ferguson and Austin and the likes of Ventura, West Indies player Ricardo Powell and Matthew Sinclair to come a target of more than 300 looked a safe bet.
However, that wasn't the case as although Ventura and Austin were stroking the ball sweetly, they failed to get on top of the spinners when they were introduced as did the remaining batsmen.
Ferguson, who hit eight fours and a massive six in his 50, became the first casualty of the spinners who claimed all the wickets to fall. He was snapped up at deep midwicket by Orlando Jameson off Brian Murphy at 102 for one.
Murphy had three other scalps, including West Indies player Powell, who did not offer a shot to a delivery which cut back and was lbw for a disappointing four. He occupied the crease for 10 minutes and faced only six ball.
The legspinner also had Lloyd Black caught by Jameson for nine and No. 9 batsman Ryan Cunningham out for five. Murphy finished with 4-72 off 27 overs.
The remaining wickets fell to offspinner Kevin Murray who returned figures of 5-39 off 10 overs.
Among Murray's victim was top scorer Austin who was caught a first slip by Dennis Gordon.
At CHEDWIN PARK: St. Catherine CC and Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) were locked in a keen battle for first innings points.
Replying to St. Catherine's total of 180, JDF were 81-4 at the close.
Sent in to bat, the opening pair of Renford Pinnock Jnr and West Indies new training squad selectee Keith Hibbert found runs scarce as they struggled to cope with paceman Howard Copeland and veteran Layton Brown.
With a little bit of movement in the wicket, the first boundary did not come until the eighth over when Pinnock drove Brown over extra cover to release the pressure.
However, Pinnock did not last much longer. He drove at a delivery outside off stump and edged a catch to Wayne Cuff in the slips for six with the score at 11.
Hibbert followed soon after, falling for seven after he tried to flick left-arm pacer Luke Williams.
Captain Tamar Lambert (50) and Danza Hyatt (50) stabilised the innings with a 95-runs partnership for the third wicket before they were dismissed in quick succession by Paul Brown, who finished with figures of 5-60 off 24 overs. Richard Mushette chimed in with 3-27.
When JDF replied, the opening pair of Marlon Kennedy and Mel Wint also found runs hard to get.
Wint was the first to go, leg before wicket by Oneil Richards for five after he was put down by Milton Thomas off the same bowler.
For St. Catherine CC, Bevon Brown had figures of 2-21 while Jermaine Lawson and Richards claimed one each.
Wayne Cuff (18) and Mark Grey (10) will resume batting when play starts this morning at 10:00.
AT LUCAS: Lucas took first innings from Boys' Town.
Score: Boys' Town 177 (Alex Ranger 51; Gareth Breese 4-51, Chris Gayle 3-35); Lucas 245-2 (Gayle 114 not out, Maurice Clarke 59 not out).
AT MELBOURNE OVAL: Portland 160 (Ramon Hutchinson 6-34, Dwayne Cooper 3-75); Melbourne 125-3 (Llewellyn Meggs 22 not out, Robert Samuels 12 not out).
