Richardson strikes early as champs Jamaica stage fightback against Guyana

Andrew Richardson struck an early blow for Jamaica as they seek to make amends for a below par batting performance against Guyana on the opening day of their semi-final clash in the Regional Four Day Cricket Competition at Sabina Park.

Richardson accounted for the scalp of Trevon Griffith (1) to leave the visitors on 14 for 1 at the close.

Leon Johnson 6 and Henraj Chanderpaul 3 are the not out batsmen.

Earlier the defending champions elected to bat and were dismissed for 196.

Donovan Pagon topscored with 53 while captain Tamar Lambert added 51.

27 from Brenton Parchment along with Jermaine Blackwood 17 and Richardson 11 are the next best scores as Jamaica slipped from 131 for 4 losing 6 wickets for 64 runs.

Verasammy Permaul 3 for 35 was the pick of the Guyana bowlers with Narsingh Deonarine taking 3 for 47 and Devendra Bishoo 3 for 58.

The Jamaicans are seeking a 7^th straight victory and an unprecedented 5^th straight hold on the title.

Over at the Queens Park Oval, Barbados batting first in the other semi-final against Trinidad and Tobago closed the day 208 for 8.

Kraigg Brathwaite is the top-scorer so far with 44 while Kirk Edwards weighed in with 37.

The returning pacer Ravi Rampaul has claimed 3 for 44 while Kavesh Kantasingh has 3 for 49.