ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Their bowlers, led by a destructive spell of fast bowling from Keon Harding, set things up and their batting, lifted by a half-century from their captain and West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite, extended Barbados Pride’s lead over Trinidad & Tobago in the West Indies Championship on Friday.
Harding, the leading bowler in the Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 Cup this past November, continued his fine form, when he snared 5-57 from 17.3 overs and the Red Force were dismissed about an hour after lunch to give the Pride a first innings lead of 34 on the second day of fifth round matches in the Championship.
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Guyana Jaguars captain Leon Johnson found a slice of form to steady his side’s batting, after Keron Cottoy and Shane Shillingford hit half-centuries to beef up the Windward Islands Volcanoes first innings total.
And, Test batsman Jermaine Blackwood narrowly missed out on a hundred, but he has anchored Jamaica Scorpions to a 33-run, first innings lead so far against Leeward Islands.
Hurricanes (227) vs Scorpions 260-6 at the Trelawny Multiplex in Florence Hall, Jamaica
Blackwood hit the top score of 98 and the Scorpions batted consistently down the order to finish the day with a tidy advantage.
Blackwood shared stands of 52 with Paul Palmer for the third wicket and 58 with Oraine Williams for the fifth wicket to power the Scorpions’ innings.
Several others got starts, but they failed to carry on – Grenadian wicketkeeper/batsman Denis Smith, one of the Scorpions draft imports, was not out on 36; West Indies left-handed opener John Campbell, the Scorpions captain, made 35; Williams got 30 and Palmer added 21.
West Indies off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall was the pick of the Hurricanes bowlers, taking 3-72 from 28 overs, and pacer Sheno Berridge captured 2-47 from 10 overs.
Earlier, Hurricanes resumed from their overnight total of 215 for nine and were bowled out inside the first hour.
Pacer Nicholson Gordon took the last wicket of Berridge for one and finished with 2-54 from 20.4 overs.
Pride (209) & 127-2 vs Red Force (175) at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados
Brathwaite, the Pride captain, hit 58 and left-handed opener Shayne Moseley, his clubmate, was not out on 49.
The Pride opening pair gave the innings a firm foundation before the wickets of Brathwaite, lbw to pacer Terance Hinds, and West Indies teammate Shamarh Brooks, lbw to left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, fell inside the final half-hour to upset the Pride’s momentum.
When bad light stopped play 10 overs early, the Pride were ahead by 161 and looking to put themselves in an impregnable position on the third day, on Saturday.
Earlier, five wickets, three to Harding and two to West Indies pacer Kemar Roach, had Red Force rocking on 88 for six.
Resuming from their overnight total of 52 for one, Red Force were 71 for two, when their captain Yannick Ottley was caught behind off Harding for 12.
The real damage to the reply of the Red Force unfolded, when they lost left-handed opener Jeremy Solozano for the top score of 50, Jason Mohammed for 11, as well as Denesh Ramdin and Yannic Cariah for ducks without addition to the total in the space of 19 balls.
The visitors got a few small stands from the lower order, led by 28 from Hosein and 27 from Uthman Muhammad, to fashion a respectable total before Harding brought the innings to a close when he claimed his fifth scalp of Muhammad.
Volcanoes (318) vs Jaguars 145-3 at the National Cricket Stadium in St. George’s, Grenada
Johnson was 65 not out and shared two successive, significant stands to prop up his side’s batting, after they stumbled to 25 for two.
He added 74 for the third wicket with West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer, who got 32, and has added 46 – unbroken – with Christopher Barnwell, not out on 28.
Earlier, Cottoy made 56 and Shillingford hit 53 to give proof that there was sting in the Volcanoes’ tail, after they resumed from their overnight total of 212 for six.
Cottoy and Shillingford became the second and third batsmen to score half-centuries in the Volcanoes’ innings, after their captain Kavem Hodge scored 53 on the opening day.
After Cottoy fell to left-arm pacer Raymon Reifer, Shillingford added 57 for the eighth wicket with Shermon Lewis to further frustrate the Jaguars.
But Shillingford was one of three wickets – two to Test left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul – that fell for 23 in 42 balls to bring the innings to a close.
Permaul ended with 4-59 from 33.5 overs and West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo finished with 3-73 from 20 overs for the Jaguars.
Source: CWI Media
