A polished half-century from Jonathan Carter countered a compelling bowling display by CGI Maple at Trents on the opening day of the LIME Elite division yesterday.
Carter played a typically attractive innings of 71 to help champions Sagicor UWI reach 188 for nine after they had slumped to 12 for three having been invited to bat.
UWI’s recovery has so far earned them two batting points while Maple have already secured the maximum four for bowling.
Ramon Greaves was the catalyst in Maple’s impressive display. The off-spinner shared the new ball with Khalid Springer after the start of play was delayed by an hour because of dampness in the area of the bowler’s run up at the northern end.
Greaves took two of the first three wickets and then returned later in the afternoon to add a further three to finish with five for 49 from 22 overs.
With his side seven for two, Carter made Maple pay for a dropped catch by captain Pedro Agard at first slip off Greaves when on three.
He launched a counter-attack in a 52-run fourth-wicket stand with his cousin Carlos Brathwaite.
The two Barbados players looked to be putting UWI in a strong position when Brathwaite was lbw to Springer for 19, just before tea which was taken at 68 for four.
Floyd Reifer (17) and Romel Currency (22) contributed to the fightback, the former helping Carter add 46 for the fifth wicket.
Carter, whose half-century came off 63 balls in 82 minutes, faced 99 balls, striking two fours and ten threes in 143 minutes at the crease.
When Greaves returned to remove Carter and further torment the batsmen, Liam Sebastien dropped anchor to finish unbeaten on 20.
