Vikash Mohan spins North back into Classic vs South

A FOUR-WICKET haul in the final session by North off-spinner Vikash Mohan led to a South batting collapse on day one of the North/South Cricket Classic at the National Cricket Centre, Couva on Thursday.

South were in a commanding position at the tea break with just three wickets down and almost 200 runs on the board. After tea, South progressed to 222/3 before Mohan took over.

Experienced Jason Mohammed missed out on a century as he was caught by Dejourn Charles to give Mohan his first wicket. Mohammed struck 91 off 132 balls with ten fours and one six.

Wickets started to tumble as Daniel Williams (five), Imran Khan (five) and Damion Joachim (duck) all fell cheaply as pacer Philton Williams, left-arm spinner Khary Pierre and Mohan grabbed one wicket apiece.

Mohan took two of the last three wickets as South were all out for 274. Jyd Goolie, batting at position five, was left stranded on 60 not out off 86 balls. Earlier in the innings, opener Cephas Cooper was dismissed for 80 as a mix-up with Mohammed meant the former was run out. Cooper wanted a quick single, but had to turn around when he was in the middle of the wicket and could not get back to his crease in time. He struck nine fours and two sixes in his 149-ball knock.

Mohan ended with figures of 4/56 in 21 overs, Pierre bagged 3/81 in 27 overs and Williams picked up 2/50 in 13 overs. The TT Red Force players are using the North/South Classic as preparation for the West Indies Four-Day Championships, which bowls off in early February.

Coach of the Red Force David Furlonge is satisfied with the build-up. Yesterday, he told Newsday, "Preparations have been going good, but we need to increase our work load to get the fellas ready. Four days is a long game, sometimes you have to be in the field a day and a half. Physically, mentally we have to get the fellas ready."

The North-South Classic is the final match before the Red Force team is announced.

"We hoping to have the team selected by Monday and then have a four-day practice match the 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th (of January)."

Furlonge said a smaller group competed in trials this year because the coaching staff wanted to give specific players more attention.

"This year we concentrated on a core group of players and not having 30, 35 players at practice...You could afford to give batsmen longer knocks, you could get your bowlers bowling longer spells. You have fellas making more use of their practice time."

Day two of the North/South Classic bowls off at 10 am today.

Summarised Scores:

SOUTH 274 (Jason Mohammed 91, Cephas Cooper 80, Jyd Goolie 60 not out; Vikash Mohan 4/56, Khary Pierre 3/81, Philton Williams 2/50) vs NORTH