Ramdin shines on final day

The match between West Indies and a MCC XI drew to an inevitable draw on the third day, with the tourists continuing their assured performances with bat and ball of the first two days.

Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, who started the day on 2*, eased to a fourth First-Class century, as Jerome Taylor provided solid support. The West Indian seamers then made good use of the 23 overs left to reduce their opponents to 64 for 5. Ramdin, who scored 6 and 5 at Edgbaston in the previous Test, made good use of his time at the crease, striking 16 fours and 3 sixes off the MCC students’ bowling. Darren Sammy did not advance his all-round pretensions, falling without adding to his overnight 18, but Taylor’s 94-ball 35 kept Ramdin company. Daren Powell slammed 18, before Daren Ganga called his men in when Ramdin fell for a career-best 131. A total of 534 for 8 gave them a first-innings lead of 274.

Powell also snatched a wicket in his opening over, Irish opener William Porterfield snicking one to the ‘keeper. Sammy, however, made the best impression, picking-up 19-year-old wicketkeeper Paul Dixey and James Morris in his 6 overs to add to his first-innings 2 for 66. Taylor also added one extra scalp to his first-innings five-for, trapping Zoheb Sharif lbw. Ganga finished the match by bowling an over of his friendly right-arm fingerspin.

The day’s play was well attended, including a particularly notable population of fellow students who had finished exams.

MCC 260
Shaaiq Choudhry 54*, Laurie Evans 51
Jerome Taylor 5-43, Fidel Edwards 3-66, Darren Sammy 2-66

West Indies 534-8 dec
Runako Morton 201, Denesh Ramdin 131, Daren Ganga 47

MCC 64-5
Darren Sammy 2-14