ROSEAU, Dominica, (CMC) – A two-wicket burst from Mervin Matthew allowed Windward Islands Volcanoes to defy the loss of a large chunk of playing time and make hay while the sun shone to put Barbados Pride on their heels in the WICB Regional 4-Day Tournament here yesterday.
Matthew has been the pick of the Volcanoes bowling so far, taking 3-32 from 11.2 overs, as the Pride reached 137 for six in their first innings on a rain-shortened second day of their fifth round match at Windsor Park in the Dominica capital.
Generating appreciable bounce and movement from the surface which spent lengthy periods under the covers due to the weather, the Dominica-born fast-medium bowler removed the overnight pair of West Indies batsman Roston Chase for 35 and Shai Hope for 43.
Barbados-born fast-medium bowler Kyle Mayers added the scalp of West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Shane Dowrich for one, as the visitors lost three wickets for nine runs in the space of 34 deliveries.
This brought Kevin Stoute, the Pride captain, to the crease and he batted out the remainder of the day and was not out on three, along with Jonathan Carter, not out on 14, before the umpires offered them bad light with 4.4 overs left.
Earlier, rain restricted the two teams to just four deliveries in the morning session which started an hour and 45 minutes later than scheduled, as the Pride added just one run to their overnight 101 for three.
A succession of intermittent showers meant that the umpiring crew of Joel Wilson, Jonathan Blades and reserve Ericson Degallerie spent the next five hours conducting a handful of inspections of the conditions.
It also meant that the 15-member ground-staff, under the supervision of Richard “Pablo” Letang, worked above and beyond the call of duty either pulling covers or removing excess water from the tarpaulins or the outfield.
A late cessation of the showers and a burst of sunshine allowed the umpires usher a start time about 40 minutes before the scheduled close and this was enough time for Matthews and Mayers to do some damage.
Chase was caught at first slip driving loosely in Matthew’s first over, the fourth of the day, before Dowrich was caught low at second slip off Mayers five overs later, playing forward, and Hope was caught behind off Matthew in the following over, playing a similar shot.
The Volcanoes missed two chances to inflict further pain on the Pride, when Carter edged Peters and Matthew between wicketkeeper Sunil Ambris and first slip fielder, the veteran Devon Smith, four boundaries in successive overs just before the close.
Pride entered the match in third place in the standings on 43.2 points – eight points more than fifth-placed Volcanoes.
PRIDE 1st Innings
(overnight 101 for three)
O. Phillips c Theophile b Peters 28
A. Alleyne b Matthew 0
S. Hope c wkpr Ambris b Matthew 43
S. Brooks c Charles b Sebastien 1
R. Chase c Smith b Matthew 35
+S. Dowrich c Sebastien b Mayers 1
J. Carter not out 14
*K. Stoute not out 3
Extras (b6, lb3, nb3) 12
TOTAL (6 wkts, 48.2 overs) 137
K. Williams, K. Roach, J. Warrican to bat
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-44, 3-45, 4-109, 5-118, 6-118
Bowling: Matthew 11.2-4-32-3; Mayers 13-6-26-1; Peters 7-1-17-1 (nb1); Sebastien 13-1-33-1; Alexander 4-0-20-0 (nb2)
