ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – A career-best spell from Jeremiah Louis set the foundation for Leeward Islands Hurricanes to take charge against the Barbados Pride in the Regional 4-Day Championship on Wednesday.
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.
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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.
Windward Islands Volcanoes vs Guyana Jaguars at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in Gros-Islet, St. Lucia
All of the other teams in the competition will be hoping that the Volcanoes can reverse the recent trend and slow the Jaguars train.
Volcanoes have lost five of their last six matches against the Jaguars in the Professional Cricket League era including once previously at this venue.
The previous match at the DSCG in the first leg of last season ended in a draw with the Volcanoes under pressure in their second innings.
The two teams enter the contest at the opposite sides of the spectrum. The Jaguars top the standings following their comprehensive victory over the Scorpions on home soil in the first round, at the same time that time and conditions possibly denied the Volcanoes a come-from-behind victory over Hurricanes.
Both sides have changes: Volcanoes have boosted their fast bowling with uncapped former Windies Under-19 Ray Jordan replacing Delorn Johnson, but the Jaguars welcome the return of Windies “A” pair of Vishaul Singh and Keon Joseph, two keys to their Championship success over the last three seasons.
Squads:
VOLCANOES (from) – Tyrone Theophile (captain), Audy Alexander, Gian Benjamin, Roland Cato, Kirk Edwards, Tarryck Gabriel, Kavem Hodge, Ray Jordan, Sherman Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Liam Sebastien, Shane Shillingford
IN–Jordan, OUT–Delorn Johnson
JAGUARS (from) – Leon Johnson (captain), Anthony Bramble, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Rajendra Chandrika, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Keon Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Keemo Paul, Veerasammy Permaul, Akshaya Persaud, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Vishaul Singh
IN–Joseph, Singh, OUT–Anthony Adams, Bashkar Yadram
UMPIRES – Zahid Bassarath (Trinidad & Tobago), Carl Tuckett (St. Kitts & Nevis)
MATCH REFEREE – Patrick Felix
RESERVE UMPIRE – Roger Davis
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force vs Jamaica Scorpions at the Brian Lara Cricket Ground in Tarouba, Trinidad
Red Force will be hoping that playing in the stadium that bears the name of one of the two-island republic’s greatest players will inspire them to victory over the Scorpions.
The two teams will christen the BLCG, welcoming it to the fold of first-class venues in the region, over the weekend.
History favours the Scorpions in this contest: They have won four of the six matches between the two sides in the PCL era including three in the Red Force’s backyard, albeit Queen’s Park Oval in the T&T capital of Port of Spain.
Red Force however, will enter in a confident frame of mind, having earned a draw in a tight contest with the Pride in the first round, but the Scorpions will be looking to rebound from defeat.
Red Force have boosted their batting and spin bowling with the return of leg-spin all-rounder Yannic Cariah from Windies “A” Team duty – but the Scorpions are unchanged and hurting from injury to champion left-arm spinner and last season’s captain, Nikita Miller.
Squads:
RED FORCE (from) – Denesh Ramdin (captain), Bryan Charles, Akeal Cooper, Amir Jangoo, Imran Khan, Ewart Nicholson, Khary Pierre, Roshon Primus, Isaiah Rajah, Marlon Richards, Jeremy Solozano, Daniel St. Clair, Tion Webster
IN–Cariah, OUT–Akeal Cooper
SCORPIONS (from) – Paul Palmer (captain), Fabian Allen, Dennis Bulli, Jason Dawes, Assad Fudadin, Garth Garvey, Derval Green, Trevon Griffith, Paul Harrison, Brandon King, Romaine Morris, Damani Sewell, Keno Wallace
Unchanged
UMPIRES – Joel Wilson, Deighton Butler (St. Vincent & the Grenadines)
MATCH REFEREE – Hayden Bruce
RESERVE UMPIRE – Lyndon Rajkumar