The two teams started their second-round contest at Kensington Oval a day earlier than the rest of the teams, due to the state funeral of former Barbados Governor-General, Sir Clifford Husbands, on Friday in Bridgetown – and it was the Hurricanes that made the early running in the contest.
Barbados (113) vs Leeward Islands Hurricanes 116-4 at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados
Greeting with a helpful pitch, Louis grabbed 6-69 from 14.2 overs, as the Pride, sent in to bat, were bowled out about 55 minutes before tea.
West Indies white-ball player Ashley Nurse, batting at nine, hit the top score of 45 for the Pride and Justin Greaves was the only other batsman to reach 20, as the Pride batting fell for their lowest total ever against the Hurricanes in the modern history of the West Indies first-class championship (1966 onwards).
Veteran Gavin Tonge wreaked the early havoc, ending with 3-5 from eight overs before Louis ran through the rest of the Pride batting.
The Hurricanes batting followed up the work of the bowlers, taking the Hurricanes into the lead before bad light stopped play about 20 minutes past the scheduled close with four overs remaining.
Akeem Saunders led the way with 41, former Windies wicketkeeper Devon Thomas made 25 and Nkrumah Bonner was not out on 20.
Sikandar Raza continued his fine form with bat and ball to bring Zimbabwe back to life in the second Test and take the game against the West Indies into the final day. Zimbabwe looked to have been knocked out cold when they conceded a 212-run partnership between Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich and then suffered a top-order collapse in their second innings, but an unbroken stand of 94 between Raza and Peter Moor meant that they lived to fight another day.
They pair came together with Zimbabwe on 46 for 4 in their second innings, still needing 76 runs to make the West Indies bat again. By the close of play they had guided the hosts to 140 for 4, giving them a narrow lead of 18 runs.
The only issue with the 268-ball partnership was the scoring rate, which all but ruled out Zimbabwe's chances of winning the match and squaring the two-match series. But on a slow pitch against an attack that was increasingly bowling dry, Raza and Moor had little option but to exercise caution and hope that their defiance will give their side an outside sniff on the final day.
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe—Opener Kieran Powell agonisingly missed out on a century but wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich chose the ideal time to break out of a protracted slump as he and captain Jason Holder stepped up on day three of the second and final Test yesterday.
Windies still had three wickets in hand at 374-7 in its first innings, with Dowrich and Holder both hitting unbeaten half-centuries in their eighth-wicket stand.
They took West Indies past Zimbabwe’s 326 all out, with the chance of building a significant lead on day four.
Dowrich was 75 not out and Holder 71 not out to rescue the West Indies innings after they came together on 230-7.
At that point, it appeared the tourists, who are 1-0 up in the two-match series, would have a first-innings deficit to claw back. Their mid-innings struggles were down to a five-wicket haul from part-time Zimbabwe spinner Sikandar Raza, who cut through the West Indian middle order for his 5-82, his first five-for in tests.
