Wickets tumble on Day 1 of West Indies Championship Round 2

Leewards and Windwards skittled as 32 wickets fall across three fixtures 

Seamers dominated the opening day of Round 2 in the ongoing West Indies Championship, which bowled off on Sunday across three venues. 

T&T 85 for 6 (Lewis 18, Da Silva 16*; Pitman 4-20) trail Leewards 131 all out (Gore 57, J Louis 19; Phillip 6-38) by 46 runs 

16 wickets fell at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda, where the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force dismissed the Leeward Islands Hurricanes for a measly 131 in 39.3 overs, batting first.

The faster bowlers accounted for all ten Hurricanes wickets, with Anderson Phillip’s sparkling 6 for 38 leading the Red Force attack. He was ably assisted by Jayden Seales, who finished with 3 for 33.

Terrance Hinds (1/46) was the other wicket-taker for T&T, while Karima Gore’s 57 was the highlight of the Leewards innings.

The Red Force were left reeling at 69 for 6 in their response courtesy of a rampaging spell from pacer Kelvin Pitman, who has so far taken 4 for 20. 

An unbroken 16-run seventh-wicket stand between captain Joshua Da Silva (16*) and Anderson Phillip (2*) then saw them to stumps at 85 for 6, still 46 runs adrift of the Leewards' first innings total. 

Oshane Thomas (2/32) was also among the wickets for the Leewards.

Guyana 130 for 2 (Nandu 54, Anderson 41; Kenneth Dember 2-34) trail Windwards 151 all out (John 37, Leo 36; Smith 5-36) by 21 runs

Tagenarine Chanderpaul (29*) and skipper Tevin Imlach (4*) will resume batting on Day 2 for the Guyana Harpy Eagles, who got to stumps at 130 for 2, 21 runs behind the Windward Islands Volcanoes' first-innings total of 151. 

Matthew Nandu has so far top-scored for the Champions with 54, while Kevlon Anderson added 41. Kenneth Dember (2/34) has accounted for both wickets.

Guyana had earlier dismissed the Volcanoes in 37.1 overs, with Nial Smith claiming 5 for 36. Keemo Paul finished with 2 for 46, to match up against a trio of 30-plus scores for the Windwards’ Ryan John (37), Noelle Leo (36), and Sunil Ambris (35).

Jamaica 358 for 4 (McKenzie 114, Campbell 96; Layne 2-67) vs Barbados (Yet to Bat) 

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Scorpions had a dominant first day’s outing against the Barbados Pride as their series shifted to Sabina Park in Kingston. The hosts amass 358 for 4 as opener Kirk McKenzie notched back-to-back hundreds, following up his second innings century in the first encounter with a brilliant 114.

Partner John Campbell fell just 4 runs short of achieving the same feat after he was dismissed on 96. The pair shared in a double-century (202) stand for the first wicket. 

Javelle Glenn added a shot-filled 65 before falling late in the day. Johann Layne has so far claimed figures of 2 for 67. Brad Barnes (34*) and Romaine Morris (9*) will resume batting for the Scorpions on Day 2.