The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

Regional 4 day Feb 8

Sat, Feb 9, '19

 

Regional 4 Day

A string of face-saving half-centuries marked play in the West Indies Championship on Friday, as all three matches have shaped up into keen struggles for control.

Leaders and four-time defending champions Guyana Jaguars were under pressure against Jamaica Scorpions, even though Test batsmen Vishaul Singh and Leon Johnson carved out half-centuries to prop up their batting at the Guyana National Stadium on the second day of seventh round matches.

Emerging left-hander Alick Athanaze struck his third half-century of the season, as Windward Islands Volcanoes were engaged in a keen battle against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at Windsor Park, and, WINDIES International Ashley Nurse gave evidence he could be a key player in the lower order during the upcoming One-day Internationals against England with an enterprising half-century that rescued Barbados Pride from a total batting collapse against Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at Kensington Oval.


Hurricanes (271) vs Volcanoes (225-7) 

Athanaze struck two fours and one six from 108 balls before he fell to the last ball of the day and was the only Volcanoes batsman that crossed 50, as a handful of batsmen got starts without carrying on.

Veteran opener Devon Smith supported with 46, Test batsman Sunil Ambris made 41, Kavem Hodge got 26 and Ray Jordan added 25.

Smith anchored the top half of the batting, putting on 42 for the second wicket with Hodge and a further 57 for the third wicket with Ambris.

Volcanoes however, lost three wickets for 30 and were wobbling on 156 for five before Athanaze came to the crease and led the recovery, sharing 60 for the sixth wicket to leave them within sight of overtaking the Hurricanes first innings total.

Sheno Berridge took 3-38 from 12 overs and off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall grabbed 3-47 from 28 overs to lead the Hurricanes bowling.

Earlier, Hurricanes lost their last five wickets for 42, after resuming on 229 for five with token resistance coming from Cornwall and Quinton Boatswain, both hitting 21.

Jordan with 4-47 from 17.5 overs and left-arm spinner Larry Edward with 4-73 from 37 overs were the most successful Volcanoes bowlers.

 

Jaguars vs Scorpions

SKIPPER Leon Johnson and deputy Vishaul Singh played pivotal roles to lift the Guyana Jaguars from a double blow against the Jamaican Scorpions.
After early wickets, the duo stood tall to end at 203 for three on day two of the seventh round Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional Four-day encounter at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

Johnson’s workmanlike 58, coupled with a composed 61 from 30-year-old Singh, helped the defending champions not only to overcome the cheap dismissals of Chandrapaul Hemraj (4) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (10), but also to put the hosts in a position where they can look to get close to Scorpions’ first-innings total of 358.
The left-handed pair of Johnson and Singh stitched a 101-run for the fourth-wicket after they were reduced to 62-3 at one stage of the innings.

Guyana Chronicle has the report

Red Force vs Pride

AN UNBROKEN 108-run eighth wicket partnership between the Barbados Pride duo Ashley Nurse and Tevyn Walcott frustrated the TT Red Force during the last session of day two in the West Indies Four-Day Championships at Kensington Oval in Barbados, yesterday. However, the Red Force still hold the advantage as the Pride trail by 120 runs with three wickets in hand.

The Pride closed the day on 238 for seven in the first innings, after dismissing Red Force for 358 during the first session. It was a see-saw battle throughout the day.

After resuming the day's play on 316/8 in the first innings Red Force added 42 more runs to push the score past 350 before being dismissed. Anderson Phillip scored 22 off 20 deliveries to help boost the team's total. Bowling for the Pride, fast bowler Marquino Mindley grabbed 5/78 in 20 overs, Chemar Holder took 2/68 and Kevin Stoute ended with 2/38.