Defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles are making their pitch for consecutive titles with a commanding 254-run victory over the table topped Windward Islands Volcanoes in three days.
Guyana batted their second innings to a lead of 420 runs thanks to centuries from captain Tevin Imlach 107 off 243 deliveries and 107 off 248 balls from Tagenarine Chanderpaul to declare on 224/2. Veersammy Permaul and Nial Smith then ran riot on the Volcanoes batting lineup. Smith with 5/29 and Permaul 5/47 ensured that the defending champions were sure to have an extra day of recovery as the match finished just after tea on the third day.
In his post-match interview, Imlach said
“We are on the right track. We started (the tournament) not the way we wanted to but we’re heading in the right direction now. This century meant a lot to me, it’s been a long time coming and it’s good to lead by example. Tage had a hard-fought century, it’s good to see back scoring runs and he’s a very important part of our team. As a team we’re trying to focus on consistency, and we just want to continue building ahead of the other rounds.”
Another team with a victory inside three days was the Barbados Pride, who defeated Trinidad and Tobago Red Force by 8 wickets at the Queen’s Park Oval. Chasing a 107-run first innings lead by the Pride, Red Force were bowled out for 124 thanks to a blistering 4/47 from Jason Holder to add to the four wickets he picked up in the first innings, Chaim-Alexis Holder 3/28 and Shaquille Cumberbatch 3/50 wrapped up the Red Force innings. Yannick Ottley 39 and Amir Jangoo 35 were the run-scorers for Red Force. Pride lost two wickets in their pursuit of 18 runs, but at the end, Kraigg Brathwaite 5 and Jonathan Drakes 14 were the not out batsmen to take the Pride to an 8-wicket win. Khary Pierre took 2/10.
The Leeward Islands Volcanoes handed the Jamaica Scorpions another defeat, this time by 7 wickets at Sabina Park. Requiring 187 runs to win, the Leewards got there comfortably thanks to an unbeaten 94 not out from Justin Greaves and 57 from Mikyle Louis. Peat Salmon had figures of 2/69. Abijhai Mansingh led the Scorpions second innings with a patient 52 off 121 balls and Kirk McKenzie had 33 from 83 as the Scorpions posted 196 all out, a lead of 186. Jeremiah Louis and Rahkeem Cornwall finished with 3/24 and 3/56 respectively.
The West Indies Academy defeated the Combined Campuses and Colleges by 61 runs at the UWI SPEC in Trinidad. Chasing a target of 386, CCC were bowled out for 324 thanks to a 4-wicket haul by Joshua Bishop who finished with figures of 4/93 and Kadeem Alleyne added his pace for 3/44. Kamil Pooran struck 88 and Sadique Henry 63 but it was not enough to reach victory.
The tournament goes on a break for Easter and resumes on April 10-20 for rounds 6 and 7. (CWI)
