PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Daren Ganga and Denesh Ramdin stroked half-centuries for Trinidad & Tobago, but Jamaica's fast bowlers kept their side in the contest, on the opening day of their fourth round Carib Beer Series match yesterday.

Ganga hammered 79 and Ramdin scored 63 as T&T, batting first after being sent in, were bowled out for a modest 257 at Queen's Park Oval.

Fast bowler Daren Powell was the leading bowler, snatching four for 60, while his West Indies counterpart Jerome Taylor claimed three for 41 with his pace.

In reply, Jamaica closed on 41 for one after eight overs, losing the wicket of Gayle, trapped in front to Dwayne Bravo for six.

Ganga and Ramdin shared an important sixth wicket partnership of 92 in 103 minutes off 191 balls, which brought some respectability to the team's total after they had slumped to 102 for five.

Warming up

Perhaps warming up for the imminent tours by Sri Lanka and Australia, Ganga batted 223 minutes and faced 172 balls and hit 13 fours, while Ramdin's innings was compiled in 126 minutes off 134 balls with eight fours and a six. When the partnership was broken, T&T lost their last five wickets for 63 runs to lose their momentum.

Gayle's decision to ask T&T to bat paid rich dividends early on when Simmons was caught at gully by Brenton Parchment for two off Powell, in the fourth over.

Ganga joined Williams Perkins (27) to add a further 48 though they found the going tough against the new ball attack of Powell and Taylor, both of whom bowled with pace and hostility on a lively Oval track.

Perkins perished for 27 to a catch at slip by Xavier Marshall off left-arm seamer Brendan Nash and Dwayne Bravo (15) added 31 before he was caught at the wicket by Carlton Baugh off Taylor for 15, 10 minutes before the break.

Three wickets then tumbled for 12 runs as Kieron Pollard (0) and Jason Mohammed (5) followed Bravo quickly, to leave T&T at 102 for five.

Ganga was joined by Ramdin, who was dropped by Gayle at first slip before he had scored off the second delivery he faced from the fired-up Taylor. Capitalising on his good fortune, Ramdin, together with Ganga, repaired the early damage.

Ganga eventually fell lbw to left-arm spinner Nikita Miller (2-38) before Ramdim gave a simple catch to Dave Bernard Jr at mid-off off Powell.

SCOREBOARD T&T 1st Innings

L Simmons c Parchment b Powell 2

W Perkins c Marshall b Nash 27

D Ganga lbw b Miller 79

D Bravo c wkpr Baugh b Taylor 5

K Pollard c Parchment b Taylor 0

J Mohammed lbw b Taylor 5

+D Ramdin c Bernard b Powell 63

R Emrit c wkpr Baugh b Miller 19

D Mohammed c Nash b Powell 26

R Rampaul lbw b Powell 2

A Jaggernauth not out 6

Extras (w1, nb8, b2, lb2) 13

TOTAL: (all out, 81.4 overs) 257

Fall of wicketss: 1-11, 2-59, 3-90, 4-94, 5-102, 6-194, 7-218, 8-226, 9-236, 10-257.

Bowling: Taylor 13-4-41-3 (nb1), Powell 16.4 -2-60-4 (nb4, w1), Bernard Jr 9-0-40-0 (nb3), Nash 6-0-17-1, Brown 18-2-57-0, Miller 19-6-38-2.

JAMAICA 1st Innings

B Parchment not out 18

C Gayle lbw b Bravo 6

X Marshall not out 1

Extras (w10, b4, lb2) 16

TOTAL (1 wkt, 8 overs) 41

Fall of wickets: 1-36.

To bat: David Bernard Jr, Brendan Nash, Danza Hyatt, Odean Brown, +Carlton Baugh, Darren Powell, Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller.

Bowling: Rampaul 2-0-17-0 (w10), Rayad Emrit 2-0-13-0, Dwayne Bravo 3-2-1-1, A Jaggernauth 1-0-4-0.

Position: Jamaica trail T&T by 216 runs.

Toss: Jamaica.

Umpires: Colin Alfred, Kemraj Barrasingha.